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No game this weekEssex league 2
Harlow U14 welcomed Sudbury U14 for this rearranged division 2 game. Our one previous meeting with the visitors resulted in a very dour 7:5 defeat, however, this game proved the exact opposite.
The game was played on a firm pitch on a bitterly cold over cast morning. The Rams had the better of a fairly even start and eventually won a line out in the visitors 22, with a break from outstanding prop Dan McCarthy who offloaded to Essex squad forward lock Liam Jones to run in wide right 5:0.
With the Harlow forwards rampant in the loose, the home side scored their second try of the game with a brilliant passing and running exchange between full back Mason Sharp and Liam Jones, for Liam to finish wide right 10:0. The visitor gained a line out about 10m out which allowed one of their forwards to crash over 10:5. However, directly from the kick off the Harlow pack swarmed over the ball to maul close to the Sudbury line for captain Jarod Bates to score 15:10.
With Sudbury mainly in their own half the Rams forwards controlled the game with carries from outstanding prop Dan McCarthy, Jarod Bates and lock James Napier allowing Liam Jones to cross the line close to the posts 20:5, conversion inside centre Jack Snell 22:5. With half coming to a close again Dan McCarthy made another great break supported well be Liam Jones to score again 27:5, conversion Jack Snell 29:5 HT
After the break the Sudbury team came out flying and scored almost immediately a brilliant try through their excellent outside centre, with great angled run from a switch pass wrong footing our backs 29:10. This seemed to galvanise them into action and further pressure allowed them to latch on to a poor clearance kick to score quickly again 29:17.
With Sudbury right back in the game the next score was vitally important when Sudbury in attack dropped the ball in the centre of the pitch, quick thinking wing Tom Spencer hacked the ball forward chased it down and pick it up on the run to popped it up James Napier and finally on to Jarod Bates to score under the posts 34:17, with Jack Snell of the pitch new fly half Jordan Newborough slotted his first points for the Rams 36:17. Shortly after another brilliant ball carry from James Napier was finished by wing Tom Spencer 41:17. That score was repeated by a carry from Dan McCarthy for Liam Jones to score 46:17. With the game nearing the 50 point limit the visitors scored when their number 8 picked up from the base of a scrum 46:22.
The match was completed by Liam Jones who finished a forward move from Dan McCarthy and James Napier,51:22.
A good win for the Rams which sees them move up to second in the league.
Good performances by Mason Sharp and Tom Spencer in the backs.
The forwards as a whole, especially captain Jarod Bates who capped a great week which saw him being selected for the Essex U14 squad.
Liam Jones with SIX tries he looked frightening with the ball in hand.
Man of the match Dan McCarthy amazing ball carrying in the loose.
Team: 1 Dan McCarthy 2 Jason Lomas 3 Connor Bates 4 James Napier 5 Liam Jones 6 Ronnie Coleman 7 George Banks 8 Jarod Bates (Captain) 9 Mitch Youngs 10 Jordan Newborough 11 Tom Spencer 12 Jack Snell 13 Ethan Bates 14 George Deboo 15 Mason Sharp
Subs: Alex Piggot James O’Donague
Tries: Liam Jones (6), Jarod Bates(2) , Tom Spencer(1)
Conversions: Jack Snell(2) , Jordan Newborough (1)
An evenly contested first-half saw the boys from Harlow take an early lead only for Wanstead to pounce right back and score two unanswered tries of their own, the ebb and flow of the half continued with the young Rams reaching half-time with a marginal 17:15 advantage. We were all expecting the second period to be much of the same but Harlow took control of the game and excelled in scoring four tries from a number of different positions on the pitch and we eventually ran-out 41:22 winners. It was especially pleasing to see six different try scorers.
With another excellent solid team performance in the bag led by the busy, busy efforts of Scrum-Half Jack Almond it’s a good opportunity to praise the efforts of a few of our unsung players. Second Row; James Mallardo who gains in confidence week by week making good ground when he has the ball in hand. Second Row; Adam Seeley for his improving positional sense. Winger; Liam Somerville for his quick thinking that resulted in an opportunistic try for himself when he pounced on a loose ball at the end of the first-half to touch down when the Wanstead defence were slow to react. Winger; Charlie Green who was on hand to score his first try for the club and try of the game when we worked the ball along the line for him to finish it off on the overlap.
Good, good work boys let's keep the momentum going for our trip to Sudbury next week.
Tries: Daniel DeFranca (1); Rhys Whitby (2); Liam Somerville (1); Adam Seeley (1); Jack Almond (1); Charlie Green (1)
Conversions: Charlie Robinson (2); Kai Sharpe (1)
Team from: Jack Almond; Alex Beard; Jake Bunker; Jack Christy; Daniel DeFranca; Shakur Dixon-Chennis; Connor Fry; Charlie Green; Mitchell Hodgkinson; David Isaacs; James Mallardo; Eddie Marriott; Jake Penhallow; Charlie Robinson; Adam Seeley; Kai Sharpe; Liam Somerville; Rhys Whitby
Match report to follow
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