Essex Waterfall Cup vs Harlow

The first game of 2018, An Essex Cup fixture, against Harlow away at their new ground, the clubhouse is fantastic and all the pitches looked in excellent condition.
Due to the festive season and the extreme recent weather the boys had not had a chance to practice for many weeks. ..Hence Owen and Gary had the boys out of the 5 star changing rooms as soon as pitch space was available to run through some much needed practice … I am afraid many parents, myself included were far to comfortable in the warmth of the club house!!

Soon kick off time approached and we all ventured out into the bitter wind to cheer on both teams. Harlow won the toss elected to receive the kick off and the match got underway. The opening minutes emphasised the impact of the holiday season as play was broken and scrappy. The cold was also clearly not helping as OB’s made a faltering start. Harlow were quick to capitalise with some quick ball and strong running. OB’s missed their tackles and Harlow ran half the pitch to cross the line under the posts, try converted and Harlow took a seven point lead.
Play resumed and OB’s started to warm up and pressed into the Harlow 22 and won an attacking scrum Moss hooked cleanly and Cottage picked up and drove for the line scoring a classic number 8 try. Sagomba then added the conversion to bring OB’s level with the hosts. Straight from the restart OB’s pushed hard and despite the cold conditions and hence hands strung together a series of passes releasing the captain Paulin for a second try in the corner.

Further strong play ensued from both sides, however OB’s again made the passes count sucking in the Harlow defence to release Morely on the left wing. Only a superb covering tackle by a Harlow player denied Morely the line. OB’s recycled the ball and moved it right, handling failed and a knock on was conceded deep in the Harlow 22. OB’s scrum was strong and Moss hooked against the head as props Torrado and Scott held steady. The drive came on and in a carbon copy of the OB first try Cottage picked from the back of the scrum and again burst through to score his second.

Harlow rallied and pushed hard from the kick off with many good hard tackles forcing OB’s to ruck and recycle ball. Reid ever a threat at the breakdown then made the breakthrough from the loose play, again a superb Harlow cover tackle denied Reid the line. The ball was recycled quickly and the hands were good releasing Bidders who put his head down and drove for the line scoring a great pack try. The next passage of play saw Harlow press and contest hard for the ball in the OB half, OB’s pack were up to the task defending the ball. The backs were released and with Paulin again coming into the line Morely on the left wing was again free, This time not to be denied a great run saw him evade the cover tackle and score, Reid stepped up to convert.

Harlow came back fighting from the kick off winning a turn over and pushing hard for the OB line. In the final moments of the half a period of confused play saw the OB defence breached and Harlow ended the half as they had started it with a try. The half ended 29 -12 to OB’s.
The second half started with strong play from both sides Adesiyan made a great run from deep into the Harlow 22. Great Harlow defence twice saw OB’s unable to ground the ball over the line. Adesiyan finally broke through on the third attack to score in the left corner.
Another period of strong play saw Griffin making direct runs at centre from one of these a ball popped to Cottage he drove forward pulling in defenders and releasing Adesiyan for his second try. Both teams continued to play hard with Harlow releasing their own backs to end the match with the final try. The matched ended 39 -17 to OB’s.

We would like to thank Harlow for the warm welcome, sportsmanship and congratulate them on their fantastic facilities .