Chelmsford 25 Letchworth 25
(London One North)

A controversial try in the 9th minute of injury time salvaged a draw for Letchworth in a thrilling and hard fought encounter at Coronation Park last weekend. The result was a heartache for the Chelmsford players and home supporters, as they could feel hard done by, as they were clearly the better side for much of the game, but they sunk to their knees in desparation at the end, after the referee awarded the visitors a try. Last ditch pressure by the visitors had seen them force their way through the phases to the Chelmsford line, but somehow the home side managed to hold them out and then steal the ball in the ruck, and lay this back, but Letchworth then played the ball on ground, which is illegal. The ball then became loose, it was picked up by a Letchworth player and a try was scored by the posts, with the referee awarding a try, even though he was clearly unsighted. With the successful conversation the game was played out to a 25 – 25 draw.

Director of Rugby, Eddie Gooby, was clearly upset with the outcome of the game, he said “We worked so hard to build a score and get into a winning position whilst playing some of the best controlled rugby this season. It’s hard not to say what you want because it sound like sour grapes but this is the fourth time this year crucial decisions have gone against the team. Everyone at the game recognised what went on and it's sad when players and supporters feel robbed after watching a really good performance. I felt we dealt with our injuries better this week and maintained a higher level of performance for 80 minutes. I can’t ask anymore from the squad. We are playing better every week and we can’t dwell on this, however, we have another massive game this weekend and everything is still in our hands.”

A strong swirling wind was a feature of the game and Chelmsford had the advantage of the elements in the first half taking them into a 25 – 5 lead by half time. Once again Chelmsford made a slow start to their game, conceding 4 early penalties and not getting their hands on the ball for nearly 10 minutes, however, after 20 minutes they opened the scoring when Letchworth conceded two penalties themselves to give Chelmsford some impetus to their play and from a scrum near to the visitors line, number 8 and skipper, Paul Redford dived over for a try which was converted by scrum half, Ben Bayley to take Chelmsford into a 7 – 0 lead.

Just minutes later, the visitors were penalised again for not releasing the ball in a tackle situation and Ben Bayley succeeded with a well placed penalty kick from 35 metres to increase the lead to 10 – 0. Chelmsford then gave away three penalties on the trot which saw the visitors make ground to the Chelmsford 22. A good passage of play by Letchworth saw them work the ball through the phases and up the blind side, whereupon they scored a well taken try, but not helped by poor tackling from the home side. The score was now 10 – 5, but from the restart a poor clearance kick by Letchworth saw the ball caught by full back, Jamie Ash, and he sprinted through the visitors defence to draw his man and pass to left wing, Jack Acorn, who scored a well taken try. A great conversation from the touchline by Ben Bayley, increased Chelmsford’s lead to 17 – 5. Another error from the visitors saw their restart kick go straight into touch, and from the ensuing scrum, Chelmsford won possession and then a superb chip kick from Ben Bayley found full back Jamie Ash in support and he sprinted to the line to win the chase for an excellent unconverted try to take Chelmsford into a lead of 22 – 5. Just before half time they were dealt a blow, when fly half Zane Mannan had to retire with a recurrence of a hamstring injury and he was replaced by Dan Idundun. On the stroke of half time Chelmsford increased their lead to 25 – 5 after Ben Bayley slotted home a further penalty when Letchworth were caught offside and then some back chatting saw the referee march them back a further 10 metres.

The 2nd half was always going to be a difficult task for the home side, as the wind was exceptionally strong and Chelmsford knew that Letchworth would be much more of attacking force. This proved to be the case as early as the 7th minute when they secured possession from a line out and then played the ball through the phases to record a converted try to reduce the lead to 25 – 12. Just minutes later Chelmsford conceded a penalty for coming into the side of a ruck and then the lead was further reduced to 25 – 15. What followed now was a terrific period of play for the hosts, when they were encamped for around 12 minutes in the Letchworth 22 and the visitors gave away 6 penalties, mainly in the scrum, and were unlucky not to concede a penalty try. Unfortunately for Chelmsford this proved to be costly, because they could not turn the concerted pressure into points. The game went to into a long period of injury time with Chelmsford looking the likely winners, but in the 87th minute, centre Adam Cunnah, was deemed to have knocked the ball on deliberately and was brandished a yellow card by the referee. Letchworth decided to go for a long range penalty kick from just inside their own half, which was successful and Chelmsford now led by 25 – 18 with just two minutes of playing time left. The visitors then mounted a flurry of attacks on the Chelmsford line and then in the 89th minute they scored their controversial try and successful conversion to draw the game.

The next two games against Barking away and Luton at home, are against clubs sitting below Chelmsford in the league table, so both games could have a vital bearing on where Chelmsford sit in the league in the run up to Christmas and into the new year.