Back
Sat 14 Mar 2015 · London 2 North East1st XVChelmsford
Tries: P (Sponsored by The Duke Of York), T (Sponsored by Eco-Lotions Building Services), S (Sponsored by GEORDIE) , J (Sponsored by ...), T (Sponsored by Pellys Solicitors)Conversions: T (Sponsored by Pellys Solicitors) (3)
34
44
Walden come close
Graham Marshall18 Aug 2019 - 17:51
Share via
A good comeback against the league leaders.
Walden finally had some fine weather to play the game v league leaders Chelmsford.
The visitors had the favourable conditions in the first half, with a stiff diagonal breeze blowing across the ground.
Walden were hampered by a couple of last minute changes to the team with notably flanker Eddie Brown coming in at Centre when captain Adam Miles was taken ill overnight. This showed as Chelmsford got off to a good start and scored a try after only 2 mins as Walden were penalised and a kick to the corner enabled the visitors to set up a rolling maul and they scored wide out.
A penalty followed 5 mins later as Walden strayed offside, another try on the 15 minute mark when they fed the ball down the line to find an overlap and then when they converted another penalty after 20 mins, Walden found themselves 18 points down and the large support thought this was going to be one of those days.
However Walden were gradually getting back into the game and started to rally and some determined running and phased play saw left winger Paul Marshall receive the ball after a good sweeping move and he touched down in the corner. 18- 5 after 25 mins.
Chelmsford stretched their lead with another converted try on the half hour mark, 25- 5.
But Walden got one back as this time fly half Tom Hughes received the ball after a good break by Ben Nash after the forwards had worked the ball deep into Chelmsford's 22 and he wriggled through to score and full back Price converted leaving the half time score at 25 – 12.
With the breeze now in their favour Walden started well and some good kicking pinned the visitors deep into their 22. When Walden won a penalty they kicked for a 5 mtr line out and this time set up their own driving maul and flanker Sam Eardley got the ball down 25 - 17 , 45 mins.
10 mins later Chelmsford where penalised for straying off side and Price kicked the 3 points and Walden were well and truly back in the game at 25 – 20.
Then came a game changing moment as Walden kicked long and Chelmsford were trying to get the ball out of their 22, they appeared to knock it on, which was missed by the 3 officials and then passed the ball down the line for Paul Marshall to intercept and look to score unopposed under the posts but the referee called them back for an infringement against Walden. A Walden player spoke out of turn and was given 10 mins in the sin bin.
During this period Chelmsford scored 2 converted tries as they made the extra man count. Once again the game looked beyond Walden's grasp at 39 -20 with only 15 mins to play.
But restored to 15 men Walden started to have the better of the game and some determined and well executed moves saw them score 2 tries of their own with first acting captain 2nd row James Gosden and then Full back Price adding to the score board with 2 converted tries and again it was game on with only a 5 point deficit with still 2 mins to play as Chelmsford kicked off.
It looked that Walden might just do it as they worked their way into the Chelmsford half and throwing everything they had at the visitors but it all came to nought as the Chelmsford fly half read a pass and intercepted and he was not going to be caught, scoring with the last play of the game.
A thrilling game and the final score line did not reflect how close Walden came and the effort everyone put in, despite losing it was so much better than last weeks game. The players can be proud of the effort they put in and now need to take this into training and the games ahead which could make the difference between finishing a creditable 3rd or down in 6th. Next weeks game has been cancelled as Braintree have had to pull out the league, so Walden next game is away at Norwich on the 28th March.
The visitors had the favourable conditions in the first half, with a stiff diagonal breeze blowing across the ground.
Walden were hampered by a couple of last minute changes to the team with notably flanker Eddie Brown coming in at Centre when captain Adam Miles was taken ill overnight. This showed as Chelmsford got off to a good start and scored a try after only 2 mins as Walden were penalised and a kick to the corner enabled the visitors to set up a rolling maul and they scored wide out.
A penalty followed 5 mins later as Walden strayed offside, another try on the 15 minute mark when they fed the ball down the line to find an overlap and then when they converted another penalty after 20 mins, Walden found themselves 18 points down and the large support thought this was going to be one of those days.
However Walden were gradually getting back into the game and started to rally and some determined running and phased play saw left winger Paul Marshall receive the ball after a good sweeping move and he touched down in the corner. 18- 5 after 25 mins.
Chelmsford stretched their lead with another converted try on the half hour mark, 25- 5.
But Walden got one back as this time fly half Tom Hughes received the ball after a good break by Ben Nash after the forwards had worked the ball deep into Chelmsford's 22 and he wriggled through to score and full back Price converted leaving the half time score at 25 – 12.
With the breeze now in their favour Walden started well and some good kicking pinned the visitors deep into their 22. When Walden won a penalty they kicked for a 5 mtr line out and this time set up their own driving maul and flanker Sam Eardley got the ball down 25 - 17 , 45 mins.
10 mins later Chelmsford where penalised for straying off side and Price kicked the 3 points and Walden were well and truly back in the game at 25 – 20.
Then came a game changing moment as Walden kicked long and Chelmsford were trying to get the ball out of their 22, they appeared to knock it on, which was missed by the 3 officials and then passed the ball down the line for Paul Marshall to intercept and look to score unopposed under the posts but the referee called them back for an infringement against Walden. A Walden player spoke out of turn and was given 10 mins in the sin bin.
During this period Chelmsford scored 2 converted tries as they made the extra man count. Once again the game looked beyond Walden's grasp at 39 -20 with only 15 mins to play.
But restored to 15 men Walden started to have the better of the game and some determined and well executed moves saw them score 2 tries of their own with first acting captain 2nd row James Gosden and then Full back Price adding to the score board with 2 converted tries and again it was game on with only a 5 point deficit with still 2 mins to play as Chelmsford kicked off.
It looked that Walden might just do it as they worked their way into the Chelmsford half and throwing everything they had at the visitors but it all came to nought as the Chelmsford fly half read a pass and intercepted and he was not going to be caught, scoring with the last play of the game.
A thrilling game and the final score line did not reflect how close Walden came and the effort everyone put in, despite losing it was so much better than last weeks game. The players can be proud of the effort they put in and now need to take this into training and the games ahead which could make the difference between finishing a creditable 3rd or down in 6th. Next weeks game has been cancelled as Braintree have had to pull out the league, so Walden next game is away at Norwich on the 28th March.
Further reading
Team Sponsors
