This was a game in which the sides were evenly matched for almost an hour. As has been the case in a number of games this season Chelmsford showed their best rugby in the last twenty minutes when their fitness begins to show.
Playing up the slope but with the wind in the first half, Chelmsford had difficulty making inroads into their opponent’s half, the Ilford defence was resolute and the ball retention of the Chelmsford team was poor. After ten minutes Ilford took the lead with a penalty, only for Joel Young to respond with two penalties of his own for the hosts to take the lead. Ilford were still very much in the game and put a number attacks onto the Chelmsford defence, from a kick ahead by the Ilford Fly half, he gathered the ball from the bounce, leaving the Chelmsford defence flat footed as he sprinted for an unconverted try. Joel Young reduced arrears with another penalty shortly before the break.

Half time Chelmsford 9 Ilford Wanderers 11

A feature of the game was the number of penalties both sides gave away and this broke up the fluidity of the game. Following one such penalty, Chelmsford kicked to the corner and from the resulting lineout, catch and drive, Phil Deschamp, playing his last game for Chelmsford before retirement, drove over the line for an unconverted try. For the first time Chelmsford were now gaining control, in both scrum and lineout. From one such scrum with the forwards now in dominant form, Mike Dawson took a short pass off the base, hitting hard line direct to plummet over.

Now Chelmsford were gaining confidence and two tries were scored by Jack Acorn following good passing along the backs. For both tries the ball was well released by Tom Taylor and the handling was quick and efficient, putting Acorn in space which he exploited using his pace and fleet of foot to score in the corner. The fourth try was important to Chelmsford as it provided the much-needed bonus point to keep them in the promotion battle. Chelmsford were not at their best, but credit to Ilford who led for more than half the match.

Phil Deschamp was clapped off the pitch by both teams as this was his final game before retirement. Deschamp has been with Chelmsford for many years and signs off with a try for himself and a bonus point win for the team. He will be missed.