H&D 7 - 3 Barking

Harwich started strongly with some high intensity offloading in the forwards, providing some good go forward ball for the back line to attack with. Andrew Sterry providing some incredibly pace on the wing to make great yards every time he touched the ball.

Although the home side started brightly, it was the away side that opened the points scoring with a well worked move from wing to wing, space opened up in the middle of the field for a strong run from the Barking second row only to be pulled down and then for Harwich to concede a penalty straight in front of the posts. Barking took the 3 points on offer making the score 0-3.

Clearly not happy with conceding the first points, the home team were back on the attack from the kick off and putting Barking under pressure both in attack and defence. The ever present Mills and Leeks were putting in a great shift to provide go forward and this allowed Mills to capitalise and cross the line. Fox converted the try making the score 7-3.

Harwich were once again on the attack from the kick off and moving the ball wide quickly provided Sterry with space to open his legs and make great yards, only to be halted by some last ditch defence on the line and stop Harwich increasing their lead.

The half finished 7-3 with some Harwich players wondering whether the squandered chances could hurt them later in the game.

The second half kicked off and Barking started to work their way into the Harwich half applying pressure in some string physical carrying. Fortunately the Harwich defence was able to repel the attack by turning the ball over and clearing their lines, but this showed that Barking were able to potentially score at any point through their fast back 3.

Harwich then started to settle into their groove as the half moved on and got back to the flowing rugby they have been aiming to play all year. McPhee was able to speed up the breakdown more in the second half and provide the backline with quicker ball that allowed for wave after wave of Harwich attack. This was met with some ferocious defence from the travelling side and their defence remained strong enough to repel the Harwich attacks.

Harwich had found a lot of success in the scrum up to this point and finding themselves with a scrum close to the Barking 22, Harwich were able to win a scrum against the head and march the Barking pack backwards. A penalty was awarded and was kicked to touch to try and score what would be a pivotal try. Unfortunately the ball was lost at the lineout and Barking were able to clear their lines once again.

The rest of the half continued in the same vein with both sides trying to get a grip on the match and take control. The final whistle went with the final score remaining 7-3 although the score did not reflect some of the stylish attacking rugby on display from both sides, both teams agreed it was incredibly good to be part of.

Harwich next travel away to old Brentwood's to look for a third straight victory.

Report by Robert Wood