Chelmsford 36 Luton 24
(London 1 League)

Chelmsford recorded a morale boosting win over basement side Luton, to record their 4th win of the season and in the process scored 5 tries to register a bonus point victory. The foundation of their win was down to a great display from their pack, especially in the front row, where props Stephen Prest and Miles Pitcher and David Hyatt caused such havoc with their opposite numbers, that the referee awarded 2 penalty tries in quick succession in the 2nd half to effectively seal their win. However with wins for both Barking and Letchworth, Chelmsford still remain in the bottom 3 in the league table.

Chelmsford kicked off playing up the slope and against the strong swirling wind. The home side gave away an early penalty for off side and the visitors failed to capitalise on a difficult kick from just inside the half way line. The early pressure was from Luton, and they had a great chance to take the lead after 15 minutes, when from an overlap situation near the Chelmsford line the ball was adjudged to have gone forward. 5 minutes later Chelmsford took the lead, when from a catch and drive at the line out, flanker, Seth Robinson broke away and with support from his team mates, he managed to ground the ball over the line for a well taken try and with fly half, Simon Hoult, converting, Chelmsford took a 7 – 0 lead. Following the kick off, Chelmsford were penalised for being off side in their 22, but Luton’s kicker surprisingly missed the kick from in front of the posts. Chelmsford then suffered a setback after 32 minutes when tight head prop Miles Pitcher was yellow carded for not rolling away, but again the penalty kick was missed.

With Chelmsford now down to 14 men, they gave away a penalty in the 22 for coming into the side of a ruck and then a further penalty kick saw Luton reduce the arrears to 7 – 3. From a free kick to Luton, quick ball was secured from a scrum and a dummy drew in the Chelmsford cover, resulting in a converted try to Luton by the posts, making it 10 – 7 to the visitors. On the stroke of half time, Luton were penalised for dropping the scrum and Simon Hoult kicked a well taken penalty to make it all square at 10 points each at half time.

Unfortunately for Chelmsford, flanker Chris Hoult had to retire at half time with a neck injury and he was replaced by Matt Lincoln. The story of the 2nd half was some great set piece play by the pack, especially in the scrummages, which resulted in Chelmsford scoring 26 points. Fly half Simon Hoult set the tone in the 2nd half with a great break to take Chelmsford down into the Luton 22. The ball was then worked through the phases and eventually pressure by Chelmsford saw the ball being held up. The scrum to Chelmsford then had to be reset 3 times and when the referee saw the scrum wheeling backwards and with Luton having players standing up in the scrum due to the pressure exerted, he awarded a penalty try. With Simon Hoult converting, Chelmsford led by 17 – 10. At this stage, Luton’s loose head prop was yellow carded. 3 minutes later, Chelmsford scored their 3rd try, when the referee awarded a further penalty try after Luton were again in disarray in the scrum. With the converted kick from Hoult, Chelmsford now lead by 24 – 10.

What followed was perhaps Chelmsford’s best try of the match. A kick ahead by scrum half, Ben Bayley, was caught on the full by centre, Dan Idundun, and he broke clear from the cover defence and with left wing, Jack Acorn, in support, he showed a clean pair of heels to score a great try in the left hand corner and secure Chelmsford a bonus point to take them into a 29 – 10 lead. From the kick off Chelmsford were penalised at the ruck, the kick to corner saw Luton gather the ball from the line out and with a good catch and drive, their large pack drove the ball over the line for their 2nd try and with the successful conversion the arrears were reduced to 29 – 17. On 62 minutes Simon Hoult had a chance to increase the lead, but was just wide from the penalty kick. Luton were then penalised for not rolling away and the penalty to touch saw Chelmsford gain possession from the line out and a strong run from flanker, Seth Robinson, saw him go over for his 2nd try and the conversion from Simon Hoult took Chelmsford into a 36 – 17 lead. 10 minutes from the end, Chelmsford were then reduced to 14 men, when the referee failed to spot a high tackle on full back, Jamie Ash, however, from the melee that ensued, 2nd row Alex Ellis received 10 minutes in the sin bin for retaliation. With Chelmsford down to 14 men for the remainder of the game, Luton then scored their 3rd try of the match in the 77th minute and with the try being converted, Chelmsford ran out worthy winners by 36 – 24.

Chelmsford Director of Coaching, Eddie Gooby, said after the game at the weekend: “I am so pleased for the players they have worked so hard to put things right over the first part of the season. This was a good way to finish the year and it allows us to be more positive for the remainder of the season. We always knew it was going to be a testing season and I believe this squad of players are learning and adapting to this league. We will always have some ups and downs throughout the season, but today we got a win that we fully deserved. Luton came to knock us out of our patterns with an aggressive defensive system which we dealt with and we proved today that we can win matches and at the same time play rugby and score tries from numbers one to fifteen. Everyone did their job today and we have exciting times ahead of us which we are all looking forward to.”

Chelmsford’s next game after the Christmas and New Year festive period is away to Thurrock on January 9th. Please check on the club’s website for details of the kick off time.