Essex v Northumberland
28 – 0 (w)
TRIES: Jamie Bache, Paul King, Sam Stanley (2)
CONVERSIONS: Sam Stanley (2), Calum Howard (2)
Essex powered to a convincing first win with a fine team performance, over Northumberland. Sam Stanley opened the scoring with a fine break through the midfield. Paul King following with a second, after good work in the fight by Essex forwards.
The second half saw Essex continue where they had left off when a midfield break by Calum Howard was finished of after fine support by the ever present Jamie Bache. Sam Stanley then capped a fine performance with his second try, Owen Thomas had created space and given the scoring pass inside for Stanley to finish off.
All tries where converted with Sam Stanley getting 2 and Calum Howard getting the other 2.
Essex v Yorkshire
5 – 12 (l)
TRIES: Owen Thomas
Essex looked to take their winning form into the second game against Yorkshire and got the perfect start as fly half Owen Thomas chipped over the defence and gathered himself to score.
It looked as though Essex would add to their tally, but some poor decision making meant some promising attacks came to nothing.
In the second half the Yorkshire outfit came out with renewed vigour and managed to first equal the scores, and then score the decisive try to take the lead at 12 – 5. Essex pressed and pressed but were thwarted by the Referees final whistle.
Essex v Eastern Counties
24 v 0 (w)
TRIES: Michel Ayrton, Brandon Bullock , Sam Stanley, Andrew Lewis
CONVERSIONS: Sam Stanley (2)
Game 3 saw Essex start well against ‘auld enemies’ Eastern Counties who were fresh from a 3-day training camp in Portugal, although it was hard to believe. From the first whistle Essex were in attacking mode and gathered their own kick to set up several phases of play and some excellent decision making saw Sam Stanley’s distribution free Andrew Lewes who drew the final E.C. defender before giving the scoring pass to Michael Ayrton. Seconds later having regained their own restart kickt kick some superb interplay, which saw forwards and backs working in unison and harmony, Ross Inwood broke blind and off loaded to Owen Thomas who had lock Will King in support and totally unmarked, suffered a Ben Kay-esque moment spilling the ball forward with the line at his mercy.
Essex extended their lead when hard working Brandon Bullock powered his way over from close range. Stanley added a superb touchline conversion. Stanley then ghosted his way through the would be tacklers to score Essex’s third try of the first half.
The second half saw Essex rub salt into the wounds of Eastern Counties and a well worked training ground move saw a cut out pass from Stanley find Andrew Lewis who out ran the chasing defenders from half way to touch down. Several other try scoring opportunities went begging as Essex went all out to cap a memorable day of Rugby with the final pass not quite going to hand, but the job was already done.
Chairman of Essex Coaching, Mike Redding said “the County should be proud of the performance by the boys, considering the minimal preparation they had leading into this tournament, just imagine how good we could be with more preparation. We decided a while ago that with the various Rugby commitments these young players have we would have a maximum of three training sessions and final walk throughs on the Saturday afternoon. This appears to have been very successful for us with no injuries over the Tournament and eventual winners Yorkshire the only team to cross our line on day one, albeit from our own mistakes. In the final analysis this was a game we should have won and who knows what would have happened then!
Essex secretary Ivor Smith complimented the boys on their efforts so far. They also thanked the Coaches for their hard work and the fantastic support from the families who travelled to watch.
