Chelmsford knew that this would prove to be a tough game against a side who lay 2nd in the league table and look destined for a quick return to London National League 3 London & South East, after having been relegated at the end of last season. Whilst Chelmsford provided plenty of effort and commitment, coupled with guts and determination in their display, the quality was supplied by Tring, who looked a well drilled outfit from numbers 1 to 15 and ultimately proved to be the better team on the day. Once again Chelmsford had a strong set piece scrummage, but the supply of ball from the line outs was hard to come by and the first up tackling was not up to the usual standard. Tring’s forwards were well drilled and excelled in the back row, where they dominated the breakdowns and with a fly half who was running the show, their backs showed a willingness to attack from all parts of the field and consequently Chelmsford were fully stretched out wide.
The home side gave a debut to local New Hall school teacher, Robbie Edwards, in the back row and his bulk certainly helped where he put in some big hits. The home side were on the score board first when after 3 minutes, fly half Simon Hoult kicked a penalty, when the visitors went off their feet. Tring were playing down the slope in the first half and looked dangerous with the ball in hand and were rewarded with a try after 18 minutes. Chelmsford were penalised at the scrum and the ball was drilled deep into the Chelmsford 22 and from the resultant line out a driving maul ensued and then the ball was released, but Tring saw a big gap in the Chelmsford defence and were rewarded with an unconverted try to take them into a 5 – 3 lead. Chelmsford were now falling foul of the referee and seemed to be carrying on from last week, where they were heavily penalised in the breakdown area.
On the 25 minute mark, Tring’s loose head prop was yellow carded for the illegal use of the boot, but even with a one man advantage they still managed to score their 2nd try, where once again Chelmsford were caught napping in the tackling stakes. Two quickly taken tap penalties were awarded for the visitors when the home side were penalised for not rolling away, Chelmsford dropped off the tackles and allowed Tring to score another soft try by the posts. Tring now led by 12 – 3 and then matters got worse for the home side, when full back, Zane Mannan was yellow carded for a late tackle. 5 minutes before half time Tring scored their 3rd try, which was unconverted, to take them into a 17 – 3 lead.
Shortly after the restart for the 2nd half, Chelmsford replaced wing, Will Ferrier for Jack Acorn. Tring, even though they were playing up the slope dominated the early stages and when their scrum half broke clear of the Chelmsford tackling, the ball was recycled and their full back found space in the centre of the field to go over unopposed for their 4th try. Matters could have got worse for the home side, when the visitors had chances for further tries, only to be pulled back for a knock on and forward pass respectively. Matt Lincoln then retired with a shoulder injury to be replaced by Nick Sany, who himself was not 100% fit from the previous week’s knock. Chelmsford were now looking down the barrel at the possibility of a heavy defeat, but they managed to regroup and dug deep and their tacking improved and they themselves had some chances to score, but either the ball went astray or the pass was knocked on. On the half hour mark, replacement wing Jack Acorn was now yellow carded for chatting to the referee , but despite this the home side found some momentum themselves in the last 10 minutes of the match when it was Tring’s turn to fall foul of the referee and they conceded 5 penalties giving Chelmsford territorial advantage. Wing Jack Acorn, who was now back on the field, then went over for a try, only for it to be ruled out for a forward pass, then prop Miles Pitcher was confident that he had scored a try, but the referee awarded a 5 metre scrum for the ball being held up. From the resultant scrum, Chelmsford applied the pressure on their opposite numbers and the visitor’s scrummage crumbled, so the referee had no alternative but to award a penalty try and with Simon Hoult converting, the deficit was reduced to 24 – 10. With no further points being added, Tring ran out worthy winners to maintain their promotion push.
Eddie Gooby, Chelmsford’s coach said after the match that: “This game left me very frustrated with the boys, as I am not sure they fully believed they could win today. We have improved every week in the league and I feel this is a missed opportunity to make a statement of intent against one of the best teams in the league. If we had attacked them from the start and got into them, then I feel we would have got something from the game. I am the first to admit that Tring were the better team on the day, but it’s all about the small margins at this level and we were just off that today. We have, however, come a long way in such a short space of time and the boys should be very proud of where we are today in terms of our league position and the way we are playing. We have a welcome rest this coming weekend so we can regroup for two very tough away games which we will be focused on, as we aim to try and get something out of these games.”
Chelmsford’s league games for February are on the 13th and 20th of that month, and they will play North Walsham on the 13th and league leaders, Amersham & Chiltern on the 20th February. The next home game is on 5th March and will be preceded by a full VP’s lunch.