Old Cooperians 11 Chelmsford 58
(London 2 North East League)

Even though Chelmsford were missing 5 front line players through injuries, suspensions and unavailability, they managed to round off a comprehensive win against basement side, Old Cooperians at the weekend, when they scored 51 unanswered points in the 2nd half to record a 9 try rout of their opponents and come away with a bonus point victory.

Initially they made hard work of this and found themselves trailing at half time by 11 points to 7, mainly on account of the fact that Old Cooperians took the game to Chelmsford in the 1st half and the visitors were unable to stamp their authority on the game, because their passing, handling and kicking game let them down. Once again their defence looked shaky when the home side ran at them and the support play in the forwards was lacking, however, 3 tries in the space of 10 minutes early in the 2nd half saw them gain confidence and this set the tone for the rest of the half.

Both teams showed a willingness to run the ball from the off, but the handling and passing from both sides contributed to a 1st half littered with mistakes. Chelmsford also found themselves on the wrong side of the penalty count, something which must be worrying to Coach, Eddie Gooby. The visitors were first on the score sheet when the home side were unable to find touch from a penalty kick and full back Jamie Ash ran the ball from deep and with both fly half Simon Hoult and centre Adam Cunnah in support, left wing, Jamie Morrish was able to touch down in the left hand corner for a well deserved try, suitably converted by Simon Hoult to take Chelmsford into a 7 – 0 lead.

The lead was cut to 4 points when Chelmsford were found guilty of deliberately knocking the ball on and the ensuing penalty kick was successful. The home side began to find some confidence in their ability to run the ball and put pressure on Chelmsford with some forceful running by their backs and back row forwards. On the half hour mark Chelmsford were caught napping, a quickly taken tap penalty, saw the home side with a chance to score in the corner, but Jamie Ash managed to clear the ball away. 5 minutes later it came as no surprise when they took the lead, following a break from their own half and with some good work through the phases, they scored an excellent try in the right hand corner to take an 8 – 7 lead. Their lead was increased just before half time to 11 - 7, when number 8 Simon Quinn, was found guilty of not rolling away from a tackle near to his line and in doing so was yellow carded.

With a half time score of 11 – 7 to the home side, Chelmsford knew that they would have to up the tempo of the game and with the wind in their favour they began to put some good moves together. Old Cooperians were punished near to their line when they came round the wrong side of the scrum and from the line out a catch and drive saw second row, Matt Lincoln dive over for a well taken try and with Simon Hoult converting this they regained the lead at 14 – 11. Minutes later Jamie Morrish made a good break and centre Tristan Olive ran strongly to score by the posts. Hoult converted the try to take Chelmsford into a 21 – 11 lead. Dean Lester then came on at prop for Steven Prest and a great drive at the scrum saw Chelmsford push their opponents back 10 metres and substitute lock, Nick Crouch picked up the loose ball to score a try, increasing the lead to 26 – 11. Chelmsford’s next try was started off by scrum half Ben Bailey, who threw out a long pass which found Jamie Morrish and with Jamie Ash in support he went over underneath the posts and with Hoult converting Chelmsford were leading by 33 – 11.

20 minutes into the half a mistake by the home side led to a loose ball being hacked on and Jamie Morrish won the chase to the line for an unconverted try. A penalty by Simon Hoult for Old Cooperians coming round off side at the scrum increased the lead to 41 – 11 and then Chelmsford finished off with a flourish to record 3 tries in the last 8 minutes, with substitute wing Jack Acorn scoring near the posts, following good work by props Steven Prest and Dean Lester and then an interception try from Jamie Morrish saw him record his hat trick and with a final full length of the field effort by Jamie Ash, Chelmsford ran out worthy winners by 58 points to 11.

Director of Rugby, Eddie Gooby said afterwards: “credit must go to Old Cooperians, as they came at us from the start and deserved their lead. I was disappointed with the way we reacted in the first half, as we had little control and played too loose again in key areas. We did not retain the ball and for some reason we went into a period when everyone thought they could kick the ball away instead of keeping the ball in hand. We need to learn how to slow games down and take the sting out of the opposition, as on other occasions we will get punished and lose tight games. The half time talk though was calm and direct and the players took on the messages issued and produced some good rugby and to score 51 points in the 2nd half without reply was a great achievement at any level.
The boys deserve next week off because we then have had a tough run of seven games. The rest along with the training sessions are just as important, as this will allow us to assess the next batch of games and put a few basic things right and hopefully carry on the great start to the season, starting with Holt in two weeks time.”

Chelmsford return to league action on the 15th November for the home game against Holt, kickoff is at 2.30pm. There will be a VP’s lunch prior to this game, so please confirm with Andy Green should you wish to attend.