Saffron Walden 24 Chelmsford 79
(London Two North East League)
Following the much documented off field problems that the club has suffered as a result of the recent gas explosion in its clubhouse, Chelmsford put these problems to one side to record their best ever league result with an irresistible performance to completely demolish their opponents by 79 – 24 and score 13 tries in the process.
Even in defeat, Saffron Walden gave brief glimpses of what they are capable of doing by scoring 4 tries themselves, to record a bonus point, but they had no answer to the pace and power of the Chelmsford back line, who tore the opposition defence apart with some scintillating running and handling which resulted in 4 tries for New Zealand winger Seb Hill and 3 tries for centre Olly Wright, plus a brace each for Josh Clarke and wing Tatenda Garure.
The visitors took the lead in the first minute when flanker Josh Clarke charged down a clearance kick near to Saffron Walden’s line and dived over onto the loose ball to record an unconverted try. Minutes later the home side had a chance to reduce the arrears from a 40 metre penalty, but the kick went wide. In the 8th minute, second row forward Chris Bown made a barnstorming run from a line out and with centre Olly Wright in support he managed to touch down near the posts for full back Simon Hoult to convert to bring the score to 12 – 0. It was becoming apparent that the pace of the Chelmsford side had the hosts in all sorts of trouble and it was not surprising to see them record their 3rd try when left wing Seb Hill beat several would be tacklers and then rounded the full back to score an excellent try in the left hand corner to bring the score to 17 – 0.
Just minutes later, Saffron Walden scored a try when some good interpassing between their speedy backs saw them score underneath the posts and with the conversion being successful, they reduced the arrears to 10 points. However, despite the setback Chelmsford went on to record a further 4 tries in the first half through scrum half Ben Bayley from a close range effort, a second from Olly Wright, following some expansive back play, a try from Nick Hankin, after good approach work from Wright again and a second for Seb Hill who touched down in the left hand corner, after some great back play.
With a lead of 43 – 7 at half time, it was a question of whether Chelmsford could keep the momentum going and keep applying the pressure on their opponents, or whether Saffron Walden could regroup and put some sort of respectability on the score sheet. To their credit the home side came out fighting and they were the first to put points on the board, with a prolonged spell in the Chelmsford 22 that was eventually rewarded with an unconverted try, with some good interpassing between the backs and forwards. The score was now 43 – 12 and this seemed to be the incentive that Chelmsford needed to spring back to life. It was some 15 minutes into the half before they scored again, but once they did the game was then played at breakneck speed.
A poor clearance kick from the home side saw Nick Hankin catch the ball and whilst he was tackled he managed to off load the ball to right wing, Tatenda Gurure, who scored a well worked try in the corner to bring the scoreline to 48 – 12. 4 minutes later Nick Hankin made a 2nd try for Tatenda Gurure to increase the lead to 55 – 12. Then came a further two tries in 2 minutes, when Nick Hankin ran through the cover defence and with Seb Hill on his outside he beat the cover defence to score his 3rd try and this was quickly followed by Josh Clarke running from his own 22 metre line through the whole Saffron Walden defence to score a thoroughly deserved 2nd try to bring the score to 67 – 12. Credit must be given to the home side for scoring two tries in a 5 minute spell to reduce the arrears to 67 – 24, but Chelmsford had the final word when left wing Seb Hill registered his 4th try, following good work from Olly Wright down the blindside and on the final whistle Wright went over for his hat trick of tries when the home side attempted to run the ball from their own line, but the ball was dropped and Wright was on hand to pick up the loose pass. In all 7 of the 13 tries were converted, 6 by Simon Hoult and one from Paul Smedley.
Coach Eddie Gooby said after the game that “It’s been a long time since we have had perfect weather to play rugby. Today we produced something special, the skill and the accuracy from the players was outstanding, and winning by 79 - 24 and beating the club’s record league score was fully deserved by this group of players, who have worked so hard to improve their game. As a squad and as individuals, I don’t think any team in the league could have held us today. The inter play between backs and forwards, combined with the finishing of the backs was a joy to watch and it gave our supporters something to cheer about.
We scored 13 tries and 10 of those came from our centres and wingers, which was a fantastic statistic. The pace and power throughout the squad was tremendous. We have two more home games left and hopefully we will be back in the clubhouse so everyone can enjoy the end of season as it should be. I would like to thank the supporters, as it says a lot about their commitment when they totally outnumbered the home support.
The key for me and the club is to hold onto these young players. 6 of the back line today were under 24 and they could take the club to new heights next season. We are looking for new players to add strength in depth for next season. That has been the difference between ourselves and the top clubs, especially up front in the wet and muddy conditions during the winter months.”
This coming weekend sees Chelmsford play bottom side Stevenage who are already relegated, kick off is at 3pm at Coronation Park