After a wet morning, the sun had arrived, providing the perfect conditions for some physical and flowing rugby throughout the afternoon and both sides were happy to oblige.

Old Brentwoods started the half very strong with some strong forward carrying direct at the heart of the home sides defense. Multiple heavy carries from the Old Brentwoods forwards were met with equally strong and physically punishing tackling from the home side. After multiple breakdowns and a great ability to keep the ball, the Old Brentwoods pack slowly started to make ground and eventually managed to break through the Harwich & Dovercourt defence to score their first try of the game.

Clearly Harwich & Dovercourt were keen to impress a large home crowd and went straight on the attack from the kick off. With more physicality being shown all over the field, both sides continued to batter each other in every phase of the game.

After some slick forward handling and quick recycling, Harwich & Dovercourt were then able to release their back line and Adam Eldridge put in a wonderful chip over the onrushing defence, speedster Andrew Sterry was able to collect and score in the corner for the home team.

The half continued to eb and flow from side to side, when the Harwich & Dovercourt forwards were able to get some go forward in the middle of the park which then allowed Male to offload to Moore who was able to glide down the right side before putting in a cleverly weighted kick for Ledua to chase after and dive on over the line for the home sides second score, which was then duly converted by Eldridge.

The remainder of the half was spent with both sides testing each others defences both in open play and in the set piece, but both defences remaining strong to hang on until the break.

The second half started in the same vein as the first had finished with some strong forward work from both sides setting the tone for the day.

Old Brentwoods, now with the wind at their backs were able to pin the Home side in their 22 and after some sustained pressure and more heavy ball carrying were able to breach the defence again to go under the posts for a converted try levelling the score.

Again both sides continued to test each other and find the upper hand and it was the away side that again managed to work their way forward after some strong tackling work from the Harwich & Dovercourt forwards, the away side were able to break to the side and make a great break being bought down just outside the Harwich & Dovercourt 22. At the resultant ruck the Harwich & Dovercourt team were penalised giving Old Brentwoods the ability to take the 3 points on offer and take the lead for the first time.

Inspired by the home crowd and knowing a large effort would be needed, Harwich & Dovercourt went back on the attack and started playing some of the flowing rugby they have been known for this year.

Strong forward ball carrying as well as smooth handling through the back line saw the home side move the ball from one side of the pitch to the other, spreading the defence spread across the pitch. This allowed Ledua to pick up a short pass, using superb footwork the winger was able to beat the oncoming defence and go in under the posts for the home side.

Knowing that the bonus point was now only one score away, Harwich & Dovercourt went back on the attack and after such a punishing match, both sides started to show signs of fatigue.

Again, with some flowing rugby from both forwards and backs, Harwich & Dovercourt were able to push towards the away sides’ line once again. A powerful carry from King made good yards through the middle and with a good offload to the in rushing support, Ben Moore was able to push his way to inches within the line, only for Cam Clarke in his first team debut season to receive the ball and crash over the line for the final try of the day.

From the kick off both sides continued to battle away with crunching tackles and ball carries continuing right until the final whistle, but no further scores were made and with the final whistle came another good win for Harwich & Dovercourt after an incredibly tough game against a very strong opposition!

Next week third placed Harwich & Dovercourt travel to top of the table Billericay for what will surely be a highly anticipated contest. 2:30 pm kick off.

Report by Robert Wood