Sunday 1st November 2009
Eastern Counties 17 - Essex 10 (at Sudbury RFC)
Essex scorers: Tries Vinni Denardis (2) After last week’s victory over Kent, Essex U16’s found Eastern Counties a much tougher opponent on Sunday. In challenging conditions, Essex conceded a try within the first five minutes when EC broke up the blindside, kicked ahead and then capitalised on a slip by the Essex full back to touch down. Throughout the first half, Essex found it difficult to deal with the defensive pressure exerted by EC both at the contact area and in the back line. This led to a number of errors and two more tries for the home side before half time. The second half performance by Essex was much better. The side enjoyed the majority of possession and a stronger forward performance had EC resorting to spoiling tactics to protect their lead. Winger Vinni Denardis picked up two tries – the first coming from a stray EC pass that he kicked ahead and touched down; the second resulted from a short pass on the blindside, following a long spell of goal line pressure. Essex: M Spremulli, V Denardis, C Allen, L Clark, C Soth (J Ayrton), M Sullivan, A Dennis (J Daly), A Hutcherson, H Branch, L Taylor (T Clarke), C O’Toole, S Gannon (C Kingham), C Simpson (M Crumpton), A Johnson (R Hartley), L Power
Sunday 25th October 2009 - Old Albanians
Essex 20 - 8 Kent
Essex scorers: Tries Rory Hartley (2), Bird, Calvert
An outstanding forward display by Essex in the first of the graded games, led to a comprehensive win over Kent on Sunday. The dominance of the front row in the early exchanges led to Essex winning a penalty for a collapsed scrum which, taken quickly, resulted in an unconverted short range try for flanker Rory Hartley. Kent responded with a kicked penalty for an offside offence, but Essex extended the lead midway through the first half. Another penalty was moved quickly from one side of the pitch to the other with the forwards closely in support, picking and driving their way towards a try for centre Bob Bird. By half-time, the score was 15-3 thanks to an Alex Calvert try which followed a good break by captain Max Crumpton up the touchline. Essex won the lineout and Calvert touched down from the catch and drive. The second half saw some fine Essex breaks, particularly those of Chay Soth, Jack Daly, and Alex Calvert, but only one more Essex try. Some more driving support play from the forwards created the opportunity for fly half James Ayrton to place an attacking kick towards the try line. The opposing full back conceded a penalty under the pressure of the kick chase and Rory Hartley picked up his second try of the game coming off the back of the resulting scrum.
Second row Conor O’Toole was deservingly awarded Man of the Match.
Essex: M Spremulli, V Denardis, T Gannon, R Bird, C Soth, J Ayrton, J Daly, A Hutcherson, M Crumpton (H Branch), T Clarke (D Collison), C O’Toole, A Calvert, R Hartley, L Power, C Kingham,
Original Pics can be obtained from hon.sec@essexrugby.com Just sent a comment using the form below.
