Chingford 2nd XV 27 Harlow 2nd XV 7

A below par Harlow performance saw them lose 27-7 on a windy afternoon at Chingford this Saturday.

It was always going to be a tough against a well-drilled Chingford side playing into the wind in the first half but despite this Harlow actually were the first to come closest to scoring.  A good break down the middle of the pitch by number eight Paul Eynon saw Shaun Roberts stopped just short of the line.  However shortly after Chingford’s fly-half made a similar break and a massive miss pass out to their winger saw him run in to score their first of the afternoon 7-0. 

Harlow’s defence held firm for most of the half, the wind playing a huge factor with Chingford’s fly half using his boot to good effect to keep Harlow deep inside their 22.  It was only a matter of time until Chingford scored their second.  A move off the top of a lineout saw their flanker peel off to score 12-0.   A quick penalty shortly after saw Chingford take a decent 15-0 lead into half time.

With the wind in Harlow’s favour in the second half they were confident that they could claw the deficit back however a combination of Chingford’s dominant forwards and some poor Harlow tackling saw Chingford score two quick tries to deflate Harlow somewhat and extend their lead to 27-0.

Shocked by this Harlow started to rally and some good kicking by fly-half Nick Ford saw Harlow pin Chingford back into their 22.  Harlow then started showing glimmers of what they could do quick offload’s in the tackle and quick crash ball from around the breakdowns ensured Harlow stayed in control.  One good passage of play with the forwards linking well with the backs saw winger Chris Webb come close to scoring.  Harlow stuck diligently to their task and was rewarded for their efforts late in the second half.  A Chingford lineout was stolen by Adam Paine whose clever offload found Paul Eynon to crash over from 5 yards out.  Nick Ford made no mistake with the conversion to make the score 27-7. 

Harlow went straight back at Chingford from the restart and a nice dummy from Ford saw him cut through Chingford’s and pass the ball to Jake Kent-Pope only for him to be tackled just short of the line.  It was a case however of to little to late for Harlow as Chingford run out deserved winners 27-7

Team:  Bayford, Johnson, Branch (Williams), Hawkins, Paine, Claridge, Roberts (Capt), Eynon, Fitzpatrick, Ford, Webb, Vanston (Youens), Kent-Pope, Ward, Banks.

Tries: Paul Eynon

Conversions: Nick Ford

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