For the second week on the trot, and the third time this season, Chelmsford and East London faced off, this time in the league. With Chelmsford’s former Director of Rugby, Eddie Gooby, now at East London and Chelmsford losing by a narrow margin in the previous two games, both teams were desperate for the win.
This was yet another bruising encounter, with both teams using their forwards to bludgeon their way against hard tackling defences. Both teams played hard and, again, the result was in doubt to the final minutes. The game finally hinged on Chelmsford being reduced to thirteen men, because of yellow cards being awarded, during the last ten minutes of the game.
Playing down the slope with the wind, East London did not make full use of the conditions. The game was played in mid field with both teams using several phases of possession, close to the break down, to make yardage. Neither side came close to try scoring and it was Jordan Ayling who scored the first points for Chelmsford with a well struck penalty after half an hour’s play. East London responded with a penalty of their own to make the score at half time 3-3.
Chelmsford were now in a good position, playing down the slope with the wind and, after a period of sustained pressure, they went ahead when Ayling found space to run through and score close to the posts for a converted try. East London, to their credit, were not about to lie down and laid siege to the Chelmsford line. Chelmsford, desperate to pull ahead, were deemed to have transgressed the laws on many occasions. In fact, they had sixteen penalties awarded against them in the last twenty minutes of the game. Because of this it was difficult for them to get their hands on the ball and relieve the pressure, play was stilted and Chelmsford found themselves constantly on the back foot. Chelmsford now had only thirteen men on the pitch and their defence began to buckle and, with ten minutes to go, East London scored close to the posts for a converted try and then repeated the procedure with less than a minute to go and the score at full time was 10-17. This was the second week running when East London have snatched victory in the last minutes of the game. Both games were played in great spirit and could have gone either way. East London are the only team this season to have beaten Chelmsford three times and it seems as though Chelmsford have a blind spot where this rival is concerned. Despite the loss, Chelmsford remain in second place in the league and play the league leaders Epping and Upper Clapton away next Saturday.