Eastern Counties Rugby Union

Lancashire 36, Eastern Counties 10

A place at Twickenham for the final of rugby union's County Championship is on the line next Saturday for Lancashire and staying up in Division One of the Championship with a match result versus Yorkshire which will mean the loser being relegated.

In the match against Eastern Counties, Lancashire were well on top in the first half crossed for five tries in the space of 27 minutes, with only one by way of reply to establish an unassailable 31-5 advantage. Lancashire were matched by some excellent work by Eastern Counties in the second period and their sole try in that half was after 71 minutes.

Eastern Counties were led passionately by Red Newberry. Aki Lea used his vast experience to punch holes in the Lancashire defence and John Wedlock was always a handful when he too infrequently go the ball. New centre pairing of Matthew Smith and Albert Portsmouth showed glimpses of spark, that will no doubt further develop, cutting through the Lancashire defence.

Lancashire took the lead after five minutes through hooker Mark Darlington, a one-time Fylde player, marking his return to the Woodlands in exemplary style as he barged through after being released by Gareth Rawlings.
Next up after that unconverted try, centre Chris Briers tested the stretched Eastern Counties defence with a piercing run through the middle following up good work by scrum-half Jordan Dorrington.

Lancashire's dominance continued and a rolling maul pinned the visitors back towards their own line - under severe pressure, visiting number eight John Wedlock was yellow-carded.
Anthony Bingham went for a narrow gap along the left-wing, but was just squeezed into touch as Lancashire piled on the momentum in a one-sided opening to this contest.
Lancashire scored their second try on 16 minutes in curious fashion through fly-half Chris Johnson.

At first referee Will Halford signalled that Johnson had been held up over the line, but after the intervention of the touch-judge the main official changed his mind and awarded the try, goaled by Johnson.
Two minutes later, Lancashire crossed again.

Lewis Allen, of Preston Grasshoppers. embarked on a superb break that tore the Eastern Counties' defence apart - he then continued the move by managing to slip out a pass to Dorrington, who weaved his way over for touchdown goaled by Johnson (19-0).
Undeterred by three tries in quick succession, Eastern Counties came back doggedly and after a series of attacks on the Lancashire line, scrum-half Mike Gillick received a pass from James Armitage, dodged through on the blind-side down the right for a try, which was unconverted.

Lancashire's response was immediate and telling as Bingham made the most of acres of space on the left-wing as he side-stepped over the line in swift fashion (24-5).

Bingham had a big hand in the home side's next try - he turned defence into attack with a penetrating run from deep and Niall Crossley, doing well to keep up with him, finished off the job with a try, which Johnson converted (31-5).

Eastern Counties' woes continued when back row forward Tom Ranson was sin-binned.
Excellent work in which Johnson, Chris Briers, Bingham and Dorrington cut a swathe through the visitors' defence left Counties scrambling by desperately to cover as Lancashire tried to turn the screw.

Eastern Counties drew first blood eight minutes into the second half when left-wing Lawrence Hutchinson evaded a last-ditch tackle by Allen to score in the corner (31-10).
Bingham lost his footing at a vital time as Fylde launched a sweeping, cross-field attack in numbers as Lancashire sought their first try of the second half.

Briers passed up a good chance for Lancashire when cutting back inside rather than linking up with two players on the outside in plenty of space. On 61 minutes Dave Fairbrother's sin-binning reduced Lancashire to 14 men after he was pinged for a no-arm tackle.

Lancashire, still seeking their first try of the half, were denied when Bingham was bundled into touch after a quick release-pass by Adam Lewis.
On 71 minutes Lancashire finally broke their second half duck - Dorrington pulled off a sleight-of-hand pass through his legs and Scott Rawlings took advantage of such opportunism and touched down.

Eastern Counties were disappointed at their first half performance that saw two try scoring opportunities missed and poor discipline leading to a poor first half. Lead Coach, Mark Bolton, gave an inspiring half time talk and a more positive and dangerous Counties were seen. Totally different match ensued and we feel that the real team showed up in the second period. This efforts will need to be seen next week in what is a massive match for Eastern Counties who take on Yorkshire Sat 21st May at Grange Road, Cambridge. kick off is 3pm.

Eastern Counties : David Langley (Cambridge), Patrick Calvert (Cambridge University), Jamnes Armitage (Shelford), George Bretag-Norris (Cambridge), Red Newberry (C) (Shelford), Tom Ransom (Shelford),Louis Rawlings (Cambridge), John Wedlock (Beccles), Mike Gillick (Cambridge), Joe Tarrant (Ampthill), Lawrence Hutchinson (Cambridge), Matthew Smith (Colchester), Albert Portsmouth (Cambridge), Simon Hrbek (Shelford), Joe Reid (Bury St Edmunds), Josh Walker (Bury St Edmunds), Andrew Hutchison (Shelford), Aki Lea (Shelford), Nico Defoe (Cambridge), Sam Redmayne (Shelford). Ean Griffiths injured before match.

Lancashire (all Fylde except where stated) Allen (Preston Grasshoppers) Crossley (Hartpury College) Briers, S Rawlings, Bingham, Johnson, Dorrington; Griffiths, M Darlington (Chinnor) Lewis, McGowan (Caldy) Tomlinson (Preston) Nugent (Bergerac) Stewart, G Rawlings. Replacements: Bitchall, A Darlington (Chinnor) Maher, Fairbrother, Goodman, Moulding (Preston) Wilkinson.

Report: Dave Masdin