Harlow Colts 26 Sudbury 7

Following their exit from the Essex Cup last week the Young Rams bounced back with an emphatic victory over a Sudbury side which, at times forced them to defend their line. Harlow , still not at full strength, were pleased to see Terry Alderman back in the side after his recovery from glandular fever.

Harlow took the game to the visitors from the start and before long the pressure resulted in a try for winger Joe Heeney who rounded off a flowing backs move. Terry Blackwell, who had an outstanding game and was playing at second row, kicked the conversion. It was Blackwell who crashed over for Harlow’s second try following forward pressure. The Young Rams went into the second half with a 12-0 lead.

The visitors then came back at the beginning of the second half with a try from their pack which was successfully converted. Harlow then had to defend well to keep them from adding to their score  and lost their way for a while when scrum half Mark Ellis had to retire with an ankle injury. Having survived the pressure Harlow came back with another try from Blackwell which  was also converted .

The young Rams finished with a flourish when inside centre Dan Hockley scored a fourth try which Blackwell converted.

Harlow Colts.  Carter (Capt.), Mortimer, Lewis, Blackwell, Ansell, Ashcroft, Romarus-Haribo, Tovey, Ellis, Alderman, Hockley, Clark, Jenner, Heeney, Perry, Treves, Mintoff, Read, Potter, Cunningham.

Harlow Under 17’s 57 Stanford–Le-Hope Under 17’s 12

Stanford arrived short of players and the resultant ten-a- side match saw the Harlow three quarters revelling in the open spaces to run in nine tries.

Full credit to the Stanford boys, whose forwards managed to score twice in the first half, one of their tries being converted .

Two under sixteens, Darren Terry and Ryan McGlone, played up in the older age group and did not disgrace themselves. Harlow lead 35-12 at half time and scored four more tries in the second half.

The try scorers were Keiran Gleeson,number 4, and Alfie Elston, full back,   who both scored hat-tricks., fly half Danny Smith who grabbed two and outside centre Charlie Coleman who scored once. Smith was successful with six conversions.

Harlow Under 17’s. Heaton, Hayden, Dickerson, Gleeson, Terry, McGlone, Palmer, Gregory (Capt.), Smith,. Mortimer, Coleman, Turner, Cable, Elston.

Datchworth  Under 14’s 27  Harlow Under 14’s 28

In a thrilling encounter the Junior Rams gained their revenge on Datchworth who defeated them 38-26 last season. Flanker  Jack Boswell –Banks showed his potential with two typical bustling tries and was deservedly named Man of the Match. New boy Jake Alger playing on the wing also performed well in his first game for Harlow.

The home side took the lead after five minutes with a converted try before Boswell-Banks levelled the scores with a try scored from a tap penalty twenty metres out.

Fly half Vinnie Hunter kicked the conversion. Before long Boswell-Banks struck again crashing through the Datchworth defence to cross the line, the conversion by Hunter giving Harlow a 14-7 lead. Harlow scored an third try just before half time . This time it was Hunter who took the tap penalty and sidestepped his way over the try line. The conversion by Sonny Handscombe left the score at 21-7 to Harlow at the interval.

Harlow found themselves under pressure in the second half and the home side ran in four tries without reply. With five minutes left Datchworth’s lead of 27-21 seemed to have won them the match but Harlow came back again. The forwards made good ground before releasing the ball to their three quarters and outside centre Josh Davies scored a well deserved try  which was converted by Hunter to win the game for the Junior Rams.

Harlow Under 14’s .  Chamnaouie (Capt.),Jenkins,  Judge, O’Hanlon, Foley, Handscombe, Boswell-Banks, Lane, Riddell, Hunter, Newborough, Davies, Knightley, Roberts, Alger.

Harlow Under 11’s 35 Braintree Under 11's 14

For the first time in their rugby careers Harlow U11’s had to play a full length game for their age group, 20 minutes each way…came as a bit of a shock…!!!

The game started well with Harlow kicking off and taking the game straight to the opposition and pinning Braintree in their half of the pitch. Both sides provided some excellent rugby in difficult conditions, the ball seeming to have the same qualities as an egg shaped bar of soap. Alfie Clark slipped through and scored Harlow’s first try, which he also duly converted. After the start Harlow caught the kick cleanly and slowly rucked and mauled their way back into the Braintree half, where upon Charlie Todd smashed his way over the line for a try, which was also converted by Alfie Clark, 14-0.

There followed 10 minutes of excellent rugby by both sides with superb tackling and commitment by all 24 players, eventually Charlie Todd once again broke the Braintree line and drove over he line for his second try, this was then converted by Connor May, 21-0. The pattern continued and  Jarrod Bullen broke out with the ball and forced his way over the line to score, this was then converted by Joe Riddell, 28-0 at half time.

The second half came as a bit of a shock to the men in Red… as I stated it was their first  full length 40 minute game, and it showed with the first 10 minutes of the second half being played a lot more in the Harlow half of the pitch. Braintree used some good rugby to move the ball wide and slipped around to get their first try of the game, which was also converted, 28- 7.

From the restart Braintree looked strong again and pushed Harlow back into their half, again they worked well as a unit with some good mauling and another quick pass out saw their second scored, also converted cleanly, 28-14.

Harlow then switched back for the final 10 minutes  with both squads playing well but eventually Alfie Clark carved through the Braintree defence on one of his jinking runs and put the ball down for his second try of the game which he then converted as well making it 35 – 14 to Harlow at the close.

Team: Charlie Todd, Louis Giddings, Max Dawson, Samuel Gray, Connor May, Alfie Clark, Jarrod Bullen, Joe Riddell, Joe Tucker, Mitchell Birse, Jack Lambert, Charlie Thurley, Kier Jenkins, Josh Gregory.