Chelmsford 30 Norwich 27
(London Two North East League)
A PENALTY kick from Simon Hoult, two minutes from time sealed a dramatic win for Chelmsford, a result which means that they are now top of the table with 4 wins out of 4.
However, Norwich will count themselves unlucky as they dominated the second half of the game and turned round a deficit of 12 – 20 at half time to lead by 27 – 20 with seven minutes to go on the clock.
Chelmsford's forwards never really got into top gear in the game and Norwich bossed matters up front, particularly in the second half. Their driving mauls were a feature of the game and with Chelmsford's line out not functioning properly, they struggled to get their hands on the ball in the second half. From what looked like a winning position at half time they handed the impetus back to their opponents.
Both sides had some early chances to score from kick aheads, but Chelmsford centre Graig Wooldridge had the best chance to register Chelmsford's first points, following a break by fellow centre Adam Cunnah, but Wooldridge was unable to hold on to the pass with the line at his mercy. Following an infringement in a ruck, fly half Hoult put Chelmsford ahead after 12 minutes with a kick from 30 metres.
Shortly afterwards, Norwich began to put some good phases together and found themselves deep into Chelmsford's 22 metre area. Unfortunately for the home side, number 8, Simon Quinn was yellow carded for pulling the maul down and with Chelmsford down to 14 men, this proved costly as Norwich scored two tries in the space of seven minutes, both from pushovers at the scrum. In between both tries Hoult slotted over another penalty to make the scoreline 6 – 12.
Fortune now favoured the home side, when another attack from Norwich saw them spill the ball near the Chelmsford line and fly half Simon Hoult picked up the ball to run fully 70 metres and outpace the cover defence to score a great try, which he converted from wide out to take Chelmsford into a 13 – 12 lead. Then immediately from the kick off, skipper Paul Redford picked up the ball and drove forward, he slipped the ball to 2nd row Nick Sany, who threw a dummy and then a good threequarter movement saw full back Tom Morrish go over for another score underneath the posts, which Hoult converted to take Chelmsford into a 20 – 12 half time lead.
The second half should have seen Chelmsford take a stranglehold on the game and use the wind and slope in their favour to mount attacks on the Norwich line. Unfortunately these tactics were not employed and Chelmsford struggled to get any meaningful possession.
Norwich reduced the arrears by three points when they were awarded a penalty after 12 minutes and then a few minutes later they scored their 3rd try and with the conversion being successful, they took a 22 – 20 lead. Norwich continued to apply the pressure on Chelmsford and 15 minutes into the half they scored their fourth try to take them into a 27 – 20 lead.
Chelmsford realised they had to dig deep and eventually they managed to get their hands on the ball and put pressure on their opponents, and as a result of this, seven minutes from time, full back Jamie Morrish went over for his second try and with Hoult converting, the scores were now level at 27 points each. Just two minutes from full time, Norwich were penalised for being off side and from fully 40 metres out wide, Hoult was successful with his kick to take Chelmsford into the lead and with Chelmsford fielding the resultant kick off from Norwich, the ball was kicked into touch, whereupon, the referee blew for full time to the delight of the large crowd.
Hoult finished the game with a personal tally of 20 points, one try, three conversions and three penalties. This coming weekend sees Chelmsford visit newly promoted Campion, who have made a good start to the season and the game should provide Chelmsford with a stiff test.
