OLD COOPERIANS 22 V 36 EPPING UPPER CLAPTON
Old Cooperians had become EUCRFC’s nemesis in recent years. The best Epping had achieved had been a couple of draws and whilst Cooperians and EUCRFC had both been promoted last season, it had been the home team that had done so as champions at Clapton’s expense. Victory on this occasion was sweet and saw EUCRFC leapfrog their opponents in the league!
A strong wind dictated play and Cooperians had it to their advantage in the first half, Clapton’s resolute defence and disruptive forward play helping to nullify the elements. It was all very tight, but Cooperians held a 10 – 5 lead at half time.
The second half was a lot more open affair Clapton managed to draw level early on but 2 tries from Cooperians saw them forge ahead. It was only with less than 10 minutes to play that EUCRFC really started to find their range and seemed to run in tries at will…4 followed and the’ monkey was well and truly wrestled from their back’ as they ended up convincing victors.
Scorers for Epping were Harry Barker, Rupert Wood, Connor Reynolds, Liam Rogers, Villy Fineguy, and John Gunnell. The remaining points came from the boots of the kickers with 3 conversions.