Saturday saw Chelmsford send a 25-man squad to Bromley for their first fixture of the new season. Bromley just missed out on promotion whilst the Blue Boys faced relegation last season and so both teams had something to prove.
From the word “Go”, Chelmsford had the dominant forward pack and Bromley managed only the first quarter before going to uncontested scrums. This dominance saw Nicholas Crouch score Chelmsford’s first try in the 12th minute off the back of a driving maul, following a patient and organised drive off a line out on the 5 metre line.
The next 10 minutes saw Bromley keep Chelmsford working hard to gain ground but a quick tap and go from scrum half, Warren Woodward, allowed Jamie Morrish to crash over the line, between the posts in the 24th minute. Returning player, Jordan Ayling, converted the try to make the score 12-0.
Bromley came back hard and Chelmsford saw their defences truly tested for the first time. Chelmsford kept their heads, however, and their patience paid off as they kept Bromley at bay for several phases. Unfortunately, an accidental tackle in the air gave Bromley the opportunity to take a quick penalty and bring the score to 12-7.
The second half started with several good phases of forward play, which allowed an opportunistic Tom Day to snipe the ball from the back of a ruck and score on the right hand side. Once again, Ayling converted the try bringing the score to 19-7. Unfortunately, a fumbled Chelmsford line out saw Bromley take possession and, with 3 good phases of attack, score an unconverted try in the right hand corner.
It wasn’t only the forwards who impressed and the final Chelmsford try was scored by debutante, Tom Alligan, after some great lines and slick hands by the backs. Alligan scored under the posts, allowing Ayling to convert, once again, and the final score was 26-19 to Chelmsford. As well as the points scorers, particular stand outs were James Smith, who played his debut for Chelmsford and showed some great forward impetus and offloading out of the tackle. Aaron Goodridge, loose head prop, put in some great big tackles and carried hard. Jordan Ayling was a constant menace, asking questions of the defence by mixing up the kicking game, taking the ball to the line and making line breaks as well as bringing the rest of the back line into the game.
Director of Rugby, Kev Blackmore, said of the game, “It was a good first run out. We took a big squad down to Bromley but everyone had at least 20 minutes to impress and there were some good performances by a number of players. The squad is looking in good shape and competition for places is rife. With the strength and depth we have; players who want to play first team rugby will have to use training to secure those jerseys on September 8th. We have Hastings & Bexhill away next Saturday which offers me another opportunity to see the players in action, but the make up of the squad will change so hopefully a few more players will have a chance to shine.”
Unfortunately, 5 minutes from full time, Jamie Morrish suffered a serious head injury and has elected to take a step back from playing. Chelmsford RFC would like to thank Phil Dechamps for his quick action in getting Morrish into the recovery position, as well as the excellent medical care Morrish received from James Davies, Harry Matthews, and Jack Acorn. Blackmore said, “We are gutted to lose Jamie, he’s a quality rugby player and he will be missed on and off the pitch. We all wish him well and a speedy recovery.”