Eastern Counties Rugby Union

East Midlands 19 Eastern Counties 22

Bill Beaumont Division 1 Championship
East Midlands 18 v Eastern Counties 22
Saturday 5th May 2018 Ampthill RFC
Match Report
In very hot conditions Eastern Counties won a tight match with both teams playing contrasting styles. East Midlands, with mostly Ampthill players, kept the ball tight, whereas, Counties played a more expansive game with the ever young Steve Hipwell making metres on every carry.

Eastern Counties dominated possession during the first half but failed to respond to the needs of the officials and were heavily penalised, a reversal seen in the second half.

Following East Midlands first play in the Counties half leading to a converted try Austin Beckett received his first pass and scorched in to score a try, excellently converted by Ben Penfold.

Solid first phase ball for counties with Collen Smith, Alex Rayment and Matt Meek providing a good platform in the scrum. This allowed Jake Ashby and Penfold to set off the Counties backs. Matt Hema and James Ayrton made many breaks, to then see minor errors see the ball turned over. With limited ball East Midlands drove deep into the Counties half and through a forward drive managed to ground the ball for an unconverted try.

Counties now started to empty the bench and Matthew Worrall Clare, in his first Counties match for two years, securing scrum possession. Under 20 players Matt Waring and Rayment, were seen making many breaks and showing their enthusiasm to pounce on loose balls to make inroads into East Midlands defence. Will Nankivell came onto to replace the excellent Will Scholes and showed his teammates from Ampthill some excellent skills in both the loose and the set phases.

The second half was a more level affair but after Hipwell smashed his way over form a turn over for an unconverted try East Midlands decided to play a more expansive game with some line breaks occurring. Sam Bixby was everywhere tackling throughout, with over 20 tackles and a number of key turnovers, supported by debutant Harry Jones.

Another debutant Mark Roberts came off the bench and added further stability in the scrum but also found some room to feed Jones who then saw Red Newberry in space to score in the corner. Penfold with pin point accuracy slotted the conversion.

In the last minutes of the game both sides fought hard to gain supremacy but after a penalty by Penfold, East Midlands scored a converted try leading to a tense end. Counties squad battled hard in defence and forced a knock on to finish the game 19-22 to Eastern Counties.

Counties play Lancashire at Sedgely Park RFC next Saturday.

Squad
1. Collen Smith - Bury St Edmunds,2. Alex Rayment – Cambridge,3. Matt Meek – Cambridge,4. Will Scholes – Bury St Edmunds,5. Mat Waring –Cambridge,6. Sam Bixby – Bury St Edmunds,7. Harry Jones – Shelford,
8. Steve Hipwell – Diss,9. Jake Ashby – Bury St Edmunds,10. Ben Penfold – Cambridge,11. Austin Beckett – Sudbury/Loughborough University ,12. Matt Hema – Cambridge,13. James Ayrton-Cambridge,14. Charlie Parkhouse – Shelford,15. Mike Ayrton –Cambridge © Finishers: 16. Mark Roberts – Shelford,17. Matthew Worral Clare,18. Red Newberry – Shelford,19. Nik Baker – Safron Walden, 20. Will Nankavell –Ampthill,21. Mike Stanway –Cambridge,22. Finn Creighton – Cambridge
Team Manager: David Masdin Assistant Manager: Shaun Gardner
Logistics: Greg Hind Match Day Officer: John Phoenix
Lead Coach: Simon Kidney Coaches: Spencer Williams, Ben Penfold & Jack Heald Physios :Sam Jones & Marjoln Visser, Analyst : Andy Howard