Another Bonus point Win on the road.

Walden travelled down to South Woodham Ferrers and despite some heavy overnight rain the pitch looked in good condition but on further inspection it was very heavy in places giving the home team an advantage as their style of play is suited to these sticky conditions and the narrow pitch.
However it was all Walden in the first 10 minutes of the game as they repeatedly attacked deep inside the Ferrers 22 forcing them to concede penalty after penalty and even when a scrum was awarded the Walden pack showed their new found power to give them the advantage.
After at least 6 penalties inside the Red Zone the referee finally lost patience and sin binned a home player. Walden took full advantage and Tom Hughes went over to score the first try, full back Tom Price converted 7- 0 after 10 mins.
From the restart South Woodham Ferrers (SWF) managed to put pressure on the Walden 22 and a high tackle resulted in a penalty and they narrowed the gap. 7 – 3 12 mins.
On the quarter of an hour mark a great break by flanker Matt Holden saw him charge through a couple of tackles and with one man to beat he decided to try and run through him rather than round him, although he was stopped it was deemed that the defender played the ball on the ground and Tom Price received the ball from a quickly taken penalty to go over wide out to extend the lead 12 – 3.
Winger Ross Ferguson was taken off as he suffered an accidental kick to the elbow but was replaced by David Patch who immediately made an impact scoring Walden’s 3rd try when after several phases Walden attacked down the blind side and a couple of quick passes saw SWF run out of cover and he went over in the corner. 17 – 3 28 mins.
In the last 5 mins of the half SWF had a good period of play and gained a line out close to the Walden try line they won the ball and found a gap in the Walden defence to go over in the corner to narrow the gap at half time to 17 – 8.
Now with the slope in their favour Walden started the second half in more determined mood and it soon paid dividends as they scored 2 tries in the first 10 mins to put the game beyond the home sides reach. The first came as they stretched the defence and Price received the ball in the No 10 position and cleverly chipped over the top sensing the fullback was standing deep, he got to the ball first and hacked it forward the fullback tackled him without the ball only 5 metres out and the referee had no alternative to award a penalty try. Then a few minutes later Walden ran a perfect set piece play off an attacking line out and centre Mark Kimberley ran a great line to go under the posts unopposed. 31 – 8. 50 mins.
The game became a bit disjointed for the middle part of the half as both sides had players sin binned for technical offences. But after SWF scored with 10 mins to go showing some good spirit this inspired Walden to once again step up their game and scored 2 further tries in the last 7 minutes of the game with both Kimberley and Patch scoring their second each. Some great handling skills by Walden man of the match prop Josh Harris set up the last try to give Walden a healthy final score at 43 – 15.
It was never going to be an easy match as SWF play the conditions well but the home team gave away a series of unnecessary penalties giving Walden the upper hand which they took full advantage.
Walden extend their lead at the top of the table as rivals Diss lost at Cantabs with Sudbury leap frogging them into 2nd place.
Next week Walden entertain London Exiles in the National Intermediate Cup 2pm kick off all support welcome.