Eastern Counties Rugby Union

Eastern Counties opened began their Bill Beaumont Division 1 County Championship campaign with an away trip to Cheshire and were unlucky to only come away with a losing point losing out 26-25 as their hosts snatched victory in the final moments of the game.

Cheshire opened the scoring early into the game with an unconverted try to take them 5-0 ahead, however the response was immediate from Eastern Counties with Will Scholes charging down an attempted clearance kick close to the Cheshire line before pouncing on the ball to score. Fly half Ben Benfold adding the extras to take EC narrowly into the lead at 5-7.

EC extended this lead after some determined play as the half hour approached, as the decision to kick to the corner for the lineout paid dividends as Henry Cowling powered over from the base of a ruck following a successful lineout taking the score to 5-12.

Cheshire struck back through lock Tom Sanders who broke from the base of a ruck on EC’s 5m line, the successful conversion levelling the score at 12-12 as the half time whistle sounded.
Shortly after the break Chris Kalopo a late callup from the Wanderers scored a fine try, to which Penfold added the extras to take EC into a 12-19 lead.

However rather than consolidating the lead EC were guilty of over playing the ball in midfield, allowing their opponents to seize possession and again level the scores through replacement Lucas Titterington as they scored a converted try to take the score to 19-19.

On the 65min mark Penfold edged EC into a narrow lead opting for a penalty kick at goal following an infringement at the breakdown by Cheshire, putting the visitors in from 19-22.

Penfold then added another penalty to take the score to 19-25 with 10 minutes left on the clock.
However sustained pressure from the heavier Cheshire pack took it’s toll on the EC defences which eventually buckled and allowed their hosts to take the lead as Tom Sanders was again able to power over the line near to the uprights, allowing for an easy conversion to take the home-side clear by a single point.

Despite straining every sinew, Eastern Counties were unable to add a further score, so had to settle for a losing bonus point and now look forward to taking on Lancashire in next week’s fixture which will be played at Grange Road in Cambridge, kick off 3pm.

Team: Matt Meek (Cambridge), Alex Rayment (Cambridge), Toby Hill (Bury St Edmunds), Will Scholes (Bury St Edmunds), Brad Baker (Saffron Walden), Sam Bixby (Bury St Edmunds), Noah Sloot (Cambridge), Henry Cowling (Shelford), Fin Creighton (Cambridge), Ben Penfold (Cambridge), Mike Gillick (Cambridge), Matt Hema (Cambridge), Sam Yawayawa (Cambridge), Callum Greenhall (Rochford 100)

Replacements: Sean Davis (Bury St Edmunds), Ramas Rukhadze (Cambridge), Luke Mongston (Shelford), Jack Johnson (Bury St Edmunds)