Chelmsford got off to flying start scoring a try within 30 seconds when a dropped ball from kick off by Canvey was spread wide, with Scott James providing a deft offload in the tackle and Mike Dawson plunged over. As has been the case for a few weeks Chelmsford have put themselves under pressure from the kick off and this happened again with a dropped ball, but after soaking up sustained pressure, with the defence working hard for the turnover, the ball came loose on the Chelmsford try line, the ball was passed through several pairs of hands before releasing Scott James who fed the ball to Mike Dawson who scored under the posts to complete his brace. Josh Beaumont duly converted. At this stage of the game a feature of the game was Chelmsford’s good handling and passing skills. From such a situation, playing his first game for the clubs first team, Harry Thompson was fed wide on the right, showing good pace and footwork, the flanker cut back inside and went over for an unconverted try. For the first time this season Chelmsford were not having it all their own way in the set scrums and also, they were giving away far too many penalties, Canvey gained a great deal of ground from these opportunities and eventually their outside centre crashed over from close in. The half was almost over when again good inter passing skills allowed Scott James to score Chelmsford’s fourth try of the half and secure the bonus point.

Half time score 22 – 5.

The second half was somewhat of a disappointment, there was little continuous play from either side, Chelmsford gave away fifteen penalties and received three yellow cards in a game which was never dirty. Mike Dawson almost got a third try but was deemed to have one of his own players run in front of him to shield him from being tackled. Due to getting so many penalties against them Chelmsford spent a great amount of time in their own half, but the defence was solid and from a breakaway Chelmsford scored following a good break by Scott James who fed Harry Thompson to score a converted try. Canvey who worked hard, particularly around the ruck and maul got a consolatory try in the last seconds.

Final score 29-12.

Next weekend will see Chelmsford trying to extend their unbeaten run against Old Cooperians. Kick off 3pm.