Amersham & Chiltern 46 Chelmsford 5
(London 1 North League)

Chelmsford slumped to a heavy defeat at the hands of league leaders, Amersham & Chiltern last weekend, and with wins for both Chingford and Barking, they found themselves slipping back into the automatic relegation places. With 6 front line players missing through injury, this was always going to be a tough game and so it proved to be. Their caused wasn’t helped either, as they lost prop Phil Deschamps, centre Jamie Morris and flanker Seth Robinson all to injuries during the first half.

The hosts proved to be a formidable outfit, and even in the appalling weather conditions of a strong gusty wind and constant rain, they showed a willingness to run the ball from all parts of the field and coupled with the strong driving play from their forwards, Chelmsford were effectively outmuscled throughout the game. Although Chelmsford never stopped trying, the gulf between the two teams was evident on the day. To compound matters, Chelmsford didn’t seem to get the rub of the green on the day from the referee, which didn’t help them in their cause.

The home side were first on the score sheet when Chelmsford were penalised for being off side on their 22 metre line and the penalty was converted to take the home side into a 3 – 0 lead. It was not until 22 minutes into the first half that Amersham & Chiltern scored the first of their 7 tries, Chelmsford were caught offside again and the ball was drilled into the corner and from the ensuing line out a catch and drive saw then score an unconverted try, making the score 8 – 0. A series of penalties were then given away by Chelmsford and from the last one a scrum was formed and the ball went out to the home side’s backs for a converted try, taking the home side into a 15 – 0 lead on the 35 minute mark. Unfortunately for Chelmsford matters got worse, another penalty was awarded to the home side and the ball was taken into the Chelmsford 22, a try was scored underneath the posts, but a knock on and an obstruction leading up to the try were not given, so Chelmsford found themselves 22 – 0 down. To make matters worse on the stroke of half time, a poor clearance kick from the visitors failed to find touch, the ball was fielded and some strong running by both the home side’s backs and forwards along the touchline saw them score their 4th try, which secured their bonus point and with the conversion, Chelmsford went into the break at 29 – 0 down.

With the elements in their favour, Chelmsford did manage to apply some pressure on the hosts in the 2nd half and 4 penalties in succession were conceded by the home side to give Chelmsford some impetus to their play. On the 15 minute mark, a quick tap penalty was taken by scrum half Ben Bayley and he managed to get the ball away to centre Dominic Dann, who in turn found wing Dan Idundun and he made some ground, and with his momentum, he managed to slide over the line for an unconverted try to take to score to 29 – 5. Following the restart a high up and under was not taken cleanly by the home side and the ball bounced into substitute wing, Will Ferrier’s hands, he showed a clean pair of heels, but was brought down just a few metres from the try line.

Unfortunately for Chelmsford this was to be the end of their attacking play for the afternoon and from here, they never really pressured the Amersham & Chiltern line again and it was the home side who finished the stronger side, looking dangerous when they ran with the ball in hand. A further 3 tries were scored, one of which was converted to run out worthy winners by 46 points to 5.

Coach Eddie Gooby was disappointed after the game, he said: “Credit to Amersham they are a very good side and the score line says they were 41 points better than us on the day. Was this score a true reflection of the game, I don't think so, we were competitive and we tried to play rugby, but conceding over 30 penalties in a game that both teams played to the maximum, whilst the opposition had maybe 10 against them, is bemusing and frustrating. My question is if we were that bad, then why didn’t we receive any yellow cards. Unfortunately for us there was no control at the breakdown and we suffered as a result. We knew this was going to be a tough month and other results have gone against us this weekend, but our destiny is in our own hands. With a rest this coming weekend, we can recharge our batteries and with players coming back into the squad for the following week, we can move forward with confidence. The next home game on 5th March against Ruislip, will define the rest of our season.”