Harlow Colts 2023/24 - Chelmsford
Sunday 27th March 2022 –Harlow u16s 52 Chelmsford 14 – Last League game of the season
We last met Chelmsford some time ago it was great to welcome them back to Latton Park along with a society referee for the day Murph Murphy.
Our final league game brough the league to a close with Harlow finishing second in the league as Old Brentwoods beat Thurrock. Nonetheless second place in the league is a great achievement for the team and today with great weather for rugby the players wrapped up the league season with a bang!
It wasn’t long before Harlow moved it wide left and they wide right taking advantage of the space available, and Kai Young touched down. Joseph Pankhurst slotted the conversion and Harlow were off to a great start 7-0.
From a great cross field kick Harlow pressured the line out won the ball and Danny Billington crossed the line with the ball at his chest 12-0.
After many phases of play, the ball was passed wide left with Montelle Levy stepping in and out then back in again to touch down under the posts. The conversion was completed by Joseph Pankhurst 19-0.
The Harlow scrum was dominant throughout the game turning over ball at will. From a scrum number eight Tolu Ajibabi picked left and ran through falling tackles to ground the ball. Conversion by Joseph Pankhurst 26-0.
As we raised the tempo Jack Rushworth quickly took a free kick offloading to Ben Ferrier who looked for players to bounce off on his own way to the line. Converted by Joseph Pankhurst 33-0.
Half time 33 – 0.
The half time team talk reflected the need to support broken field runners, speed up the rucks to prevent the Chelmsford players over loading the ruck and pushing us off the ball.
Joseph Williams replaced Felix Waugh, Alfie Dutnall replaced Henry Stovell. Brandon Jackson replaced Ed Lea.
The second half began with Chelmsford putting Harlow under pressure and charging down a number of clearance kicks. From one of these Chelmsford scored and converted. 33-7.
Harlow were back on the attack pressurising the Chelmsford line. From a strong line out Tolu Ajibabi barged over for his second try of the match. Converted by Joseph Pankhurst 40-7.
Charlie Jacques came on replacing Danny Billington, Charlie makes his come back from a lengthy spell out. It was great to see him back on the pitch.
Harlow’s next try was the second for Montelle Levy after continued pressure. Joseph Pankhurst converted. 47-7.
The next try came from deep in the Harlow half where a penalty was taken quickly, there were strong runs over multiple phases from Kai Young, Corey Kelman, Ben Ferrier, great distribution to find the space before Brandon Jackson crossed the line. 52-7.
Chelmsford were not done and came back putting Harlow under pressure, they tried to take a penalty quickly. But Ed Lea, back on for Corey Kelman, was keen to stop it. Not exactly legally so the referee showed him a yellow card and 10 minutes to the end of the game in the sin bin. A couple of phases later Chelmsford crossed for their second try of the game which was converted. 52-14 and the final whistle.
Special mentions today to our forward pack who’s dominance in the scrum allowed our players to take risks and chances knowing that the occasional forward pass or knock on would not be costly as we were able to win the ball back.
Final Score 52 – 14
Next Sunday we have a friendly with Chess Valley at home at Latton Park. Please make sure players update their availability for both training on Wednesday and our game next Sunday in SportMember.
Work ons for our game are kick off receipt and improving our support and ruck speed.
Thank you to Atakan for washing the shirts this week.
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Tries: Kai Young, Danny Billington, Montelle Levy (2), Tolu Ajibabi (2), Ben Ferrier, Brandon Jackson Conversions: Joseph Pankhurst (6) Penalties: Not this week Referee: Murph Murphy society referee
Team 1. Felix Waugh, 2. Danny Billington, 3. Atakan Alagoz, 4. Ed Lea, 5. Corey Kelman, 6. Matt MacFarlane, 7. Ben Ferrier, 8. Tolu Ajibabi, 9. Jack Rushworth, 10. Joseph Pankhurst, 11. Montelle Levy, 12. Owen Eynon, 13. Henry Stovell, 14. Kai Young, 15. Tobie Westbrook, 16. Joseph Williams, 17. Charlie Jacques, 18. Brandon Jackson, 19. Alfie Dutnall
