Chingford 15 Chelmsford 3
Chelmsford travelled to Chingford on Saturday with a much reorganised side from the previous week. Both teams were on the same number of points in the league and both teams were secure in the knowledge that they would be in the same league next year. As a consequence the game lacked passion, even director of rugby Eddie Gooby was totally relaxed and smiling at the outcome.
One of the negative features of the season for Chelmsford has been the number of penalties given away, and this was the case on Saturday. After thirteen minutes Chelmsford were caught offside and the Chingford fly half slotted the kick.
The next twenty minutes probably saw the best of Chelmsford. Nick Sani, captain for the day, drove his pack forward, Zane Mannan kicked intelligently and Jamie Ash provided a number of penetrating runs. Again, penalties were given away in promising positions from Chelmsford, and it was only a penalty from Mannan that made it 3-3 after thirty three minutes, which Chelmsford had to show for their pressure.
Following a kick forward by Chingford into the Chelmsford twenty two metre area, the ball was knocked on. The resulting scrum saw the ball fed back inside the Chingford centre to score a good try near the post, which was converted. Half time Chingford 10 Chelmsford 3
The Chelmsford front row have had a fine season, dominating most of the teams they have played. The same applied on Saturday with Pitcher, Hyett, Prest and Dechamps. Prest and the Chingford prop were sin-binned for ten minutes for a minor altercation early in the half as Chelmsford looked for an elusive try. Although Chelmsford spent much of their time in the opposition half, they seldom had the cutting edge to break through. They had two relatively easy chances for penalties, but both were squandered with inaccurate kicking.
After sixty three minutes, Chingford returned to the attack, following a deliberate knock on by a Chelmsford player. The resulting penalty was kicked long,and after the lineout a number of rolling mauls developed before Chingford number eight managed to put the ball down over the line for a converted try. Chingford 15 Chelmsford 3
The last quarter of the game had no pattern with both sides giving away penalties in the middle of the pitch. Ellis playing number eight had a few good runs but Chelmsford lacked real penetration and the game fizzled out lamely.
Gooby, director of rugby, was philosophical,
‘Our aim this season was to stay in the league, we did that with the win last week. Today we had a young side out, many playing out of their normal positions. It was not a great game but the overall performance had many plusses. We have a rest before we start preparing for next season where our goal must now be to finish half way up the league’