This week saw Chelmsford Colts’s face Chingford U18’s in the first Div 2 fixture for 2024/25. The sun was shining, and we were playing on the main pitch, in front of a home crowd. Kick off was at 1300hrs and both teams were keen to get started.
Chelmsford started the first half playing up hill. With many of the lads playing out of position and having not played together as a starting 15 before, it was always going to be an interesting 80 minutes. That said, Chelmsford started strong, breaking away at the halfway line to score the first try of the game just 7 minutes in. Successfully converted by our #9, giving CRFC a 7-0 lead

CRFC continued applying the pressure in attack, passing the ball through the hands out to the wing, to score a further 2 tries within 2 minutes of each other. 2 straight forward conversions under the post took Chelmsford 21-0 after 22 minutes

Mistakes were made, but the lads picked each other up and got straight back to the task at hand, putting 2 more tries over the line before the half time whistle blew. Half time score Chelmsford 33 Chingford 0

Positive encouragement from the Coaches at half time, and fresh legs off the bench and Chelmsford were ready to go again. This time playing downhill and full of confidence. 2 more tries for the home team left Chingford with very few answers and very little left in the tank, which frustrated some of their players. This resulted in some poor discipline on their part which Chelmsford briefly reacted to, momentarily losing focus. This loss of concentration resulted in Chingford’s only 2 tries of the game within quick succession. However one last try from Chelmsford took the final score to CRFC 50 – Chingford 12

These 18 boys went out there today, not really knowing what to expect, but each and every one of them worked really hard to use the skills they have been practicing and truly played as a team. They demonstrated some really good ball skills and importantly seemed to really enjoy themselves out there. There was some difficult decisions for the Coaches to make today, knowing that they were asking the boys to step out of their comfort zones, but every one of the boys accepted the challenge and gave their all. Lots of positive things to take away from today, and to build upon in training.

Once again, there was great support from the side lines from family and friends but what was also great to see was so many of the Colts, who were not selected for todays game, come along to support their team.

A really great day. Well done lads!