Date: Sat 22nd Oct 2016

Time: 3pm

Match Report

Harlow completed their third win in row on Saturday to put themselves level on points with league leaders Wanstead.
The red men started strongly, immediately putting Basildon under pressure and forcing an early penalty in front of the post which was converted by Danny Smith.

Harlow dominated the next 20 minutes with wing Scott Whitby leading the way, running hard to get over the gain line repeatedly.

Soon the forwards were getting in on the act, going through the phases and off loading well.

Good tactical kicking from Smith and Stalley kept Basildon pinned back and eventually the pressure told with Jack Christy crashing over the line for his first try for the first team.

This was quickly followed up by Ross Stalley who beat his man before running the ball in from 25 yards out.
Harlow them suffered a set back when Basildon kicked long and a lucky bounce landed in the hands of the home team’s left winger allowing him to finish underneath the posts to make the score 17-7 at half time.

Harlow started the second half brilliantly, immediately pushing Basildon back. Good kicking from Woodington meant Harlow were perfectly placed to capitalise on the home teams mistakes. First Stalley found some space to score his second try and then Whitby supported well to finish another good move. Both tries were converted to give Harlow a 31-7 lead with 25 minutes to go.

The final quarter of the match was dominated by Basildon. However, despite the home team spending most of the time in Harlow’s 22 they were unable to add any more points to their total until the last two minutes.

Final score Harlow 31 Basildon 12.

Tries: Jack Christie, Ross Stalley (2), Scott Whitby
Conversions: Danny Smith: (2), Ross Stalley (2)
Penalty: Danny Smith

Team: 1. James Ephgrave, 2. Mark Bowering, 3. Jack Christy, 4. Mark Twiner, 5. Andrew Quinn, 6. Shaun Roberts, 7. Wayne Heapy, 8. Kain Claridge, 9. Charlie Woodington, 10. Dan Smith, 11. Ryan McGlone, 12. Ross Stalley, 13. Andrew Tarsey, 14. Scott Whitby, 15. Rob Mackie, 16. Daniel Stevenson, 17. Alfie Clarke J, 18. James Clarke

Director of Rugby, Lee Harron said, “This was another really important win and sets us up really well for next week. The defence in the second half was superb and it was good to see youngsters like Jack Christy and Alfie Clark doing well. “Next week’s game against top of the table Wanstead is a massive game – it’s really important we have a good week at training and prepare well.”