Harlow 45 Twickenham 10

Powergen London & South East II North

All season the firsts have shown the potential to win but it has not quite happened. Yesterday it did and it was an unfortunate Twickenham who reaped the whirlwind. Seven excellent tries and given a few more passes going to hand and better luck with the bounce on the chip kicks and it could have been more. Harlow attacked from the start moved the ball wide and put Stradling over in the corner for a great try and suddenly we had a team that believed in themselves and a game virtually won by half-time. Congratulations are due to the whole senior squad who have trained so hard and to Alan Yates who has worked flat out to turn things around.

Three players made league debuts for Harlow although all of them have represented the club in the past. Steve Burroughs who last played in the firsts some years ago came in at No 8 and added considerable strength to the back row linking with second row Eynon and flanker Lakin to hassle the visitors all through the game. A special mention to Sean Roth who came on as a replacement at scrum half after 15 minutes and played a blinder. A real play maker and a great solo break for a try.  Many may remember him playing with great style at under 17s and colts a couple of years ago. Stuart Wilkins is a hooker who last played at under 17 also makes a welcome return to Ram Gorse.

After Stradling’s opening try Harlow suffered a setback when he had to go off with a suspected calf muscle tear. Esterhuyse who had made a good start at scrum half moved to centre leaving the slot for Sean Roth a specialist scrum half. Within minutes he was in action twice cleaning up loose ball and feeding precision passes to forwards on the charge. Prop Steve Ephgrave took advantage to crash over for the second try with Eynon in close support. Minute later another good handling move saw the final miss pass go to Lee Smith who touched down in the corner for a 15 - 0 lead.  One of the few defensive mistakes of the afternoon let Twickenham in for a try but a penalty by Brown kept the Harlow scoreboard tickling over. Perhaps the decisive factor was the speed of the forwards to every breakdown winning quick ball so that the backs were taking it going forward and for the first time this season having time to create gaps and overlaps with set moves they have been working on in training. A good break by Esterhuyse added another try and a conversion and penalty from Brown ended the half with a 28 – 5 lead.

In the second half despite playing uphill Harlow continued to have a good share of the territory. Twickenham made good use of the boot and the wind to break back into the Harlow half on a number of occasions but Harlow covering was good. Harlow had a number of possible scoring opportunities particularly from chip kicks to the corner but the defence held until finally fly half Ben Jarvis took the ball from 25 yards out saw a small gap and had the pace to cut through for a try under the posts, converted by Brown for a 35 – 5 lead. Harlow extended the lead soon after when lock Paul Eynon linked with the backs 40 yards out and came away with the ball making a solo run for the corner outpacing the winger in the process. In the final quarter Twickenham rallied a little and from one break out managed to add another try. Harlow responded with a series of attacks at close quarters recycling the ball well before Roth decided to go it alone. He was probably the lightest player on the field but made good use of his acceleration to cut in for a try in his first league game.

Team :            Brown, Vanbeck, Morgan, Stradling (sub Roth 15), Smith,       Jarvis, Esterhuyse, Yates (sub Brown 60), Johnson (sub Wilkins 70), Ephgrave, Eynon, Grover, Cochrane, Lakin, Burroughs

Tries: Stradling, Ephgrave, Smith, Esterhuyse, Jarvis, Roth, Eynon

Conversions: Brown 2.

Penalties: Brown 2.

Next week Harlow are away at Shelford another key game if they are going to survive in this league. The team spirits are high after a good win but they all  realize that they have to match this performance many more times in the coming months.

Note to Sports editors: Statistics for this and other leagues can be found at  www.rugbyroundup.com

Next Sunday 10^th Oct. Harlow are hosting their annual mini rugby festival. With five other clubs attending and tournaments in six age groups from under 7s to under 12s over 400 boys and girls are expected at Ram Gorse.

Harlow seconds merit table game against Rochford was postponed but they arranged a friendly against Ilford wanderers losing 3 - 0 in a close contest.

Harlow's third team went down to a determined Black Horse in a reversal of a match played 2 weeks ago.  The Horse got of to a flyer with two early tries before Harlow reorganized their pack to gain some control in the forwards.  A period of Harlow pressure soon followed as their line-outs began to improve and the loose forwards began to chase down the ball at the back of opposition scrums.  A try by Colin Riches was soon followed by a classy run and try from stand in centre Fred Lloyd.  As the first half ended Harlow were right back in the match.
However, half time, gave the Horse the time to regroup and come out with all guns blazing to score in the far corner.  However that only spurred the rams on to score twice more, one coming from Ashley Powell shortly after the dependable and solid looking Adam Payne scored his second of the season.  Unfortunately for Harlow this was a little to late as the game finished 20-25 in favour of Black Horse.

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