On a wet and blustery Saturday afternoon in West Ham, East London Rugby Club played host to Old Cooperians. Looking to replicate the England Rugby team’s remarkable win over New Zealand in the World Cup semi-final, East London came out of the changing rooms with the White Strips “Seven Nation Army” on blast.
The visitors got proceedings under way as they kicked off into an increasingly strong head wind. Following some bruising first encounters it was East London who opened their account first with some great play down the right-hand touchline by the backs which was finished off by Fullback Max Stanyard. Stanyard then missed the conversion as the strong winds played havoc with the ball in the air.
It would be the visitors turn to put some pressure on the East London defence next as they looked to batter their way through with their physical pack. The home sides defence held solid however with some big hits coming in, most noticeably from number seven Sam Cassidy who forced a big knock-on to stunt the Old Cooperians attack.
Old Cooperians would be rewarded for their sustained pressure however as the home side were caught for offside which led to three points bringing the score to a tight 5 -3 with twenty-four minutes on the clock. This was negated soon after however as the visitors would be caught offside and Stanyard made no mistakes this time as he pushed his sides lead out to five points once again, 8 – 3 to East London with twenty-seven minutes played.
East London weren’t done yet however, and after a sustained period of possession in the visitors twenty-two-meter line, number eight Daniel Bracken rumbled over next to the posts with Stanyard adding the extras to give East London a 15-3 lead going in to half-time.
The home side got things underway in the second half, this time they would have the wind and now heavy rain in their faces for the second forty.
What the second half lacked in scoring it certainly made up for in drama as the visitors camped in the East London twenty-two for the bulk of thirty minutes. The home side employed a bend but don’t break approach as time and again they repelled the oncoming attack with big hits. The pressure would tell however as East London picked up only their 2nd and 3rd yellow cards of the season as both David Gibson and Christopher Brown were pinged for infringements.
Despite the advantage of two extra players and sustained pressure the visitors just couldn’t quite break through as East London held on to close out for a crucial 15 – 3 win in tough conditions.
Speaking after the game Head coach Eddie Gooby was proud of his sides effort. “The boys defended absolutely unbelievably, that last fourteen minutes with only thirteen men on the pitch and they still showed no way through.” He said.
“Every man put his body on the line and every man did their role, its exactly what we’ve been doing at training and its probably the first time this year in defence that they’ve taken it onto the pitch and they should be really proud of themselves.”
Speaking of standout players with this season’s leading try scorer scrumhalf Will Brown currently away second team captain Joe Kelly stepped up with a strong performance. Gooby said “He would’ve learnt a lot today because it’s a lot different pace and he realises that he has to be a bit quicker with his delivery, but he has done a job today, without him we would’ve been in a lot of trouble.”
With the Rugby World Cup final taking place next weekend the sides have a well-deserved weekend off. Next up for East London will be Ilford Wanderers away in a key match for both sides seasons.
East London:
1.Huw Shortland 2. Lewis Bourke 3. Mantas Urbonavicius 4. Christopher Brown 5. Benjamin Stern 6. Ncik Parrot 7. Sam Cassidy 8. Daniel Braken 9. Joseph Kelly 10.Ryan Billinghurst 11. Bill Brown 12. Roger Ng 13. Conor Reilly 14. Kevin O’Donoghue 15. Maxwell Stanyard
Substitutes: 16. David Gibson 17. Oliver Hillyer-Ridley 18. Andrew Till
Old Cooperians:
1.Fatjon Qela 2. Jason Ox 3. Samuel John 4. Daryl Ox 5. Alfie Cox 6. George Brittle 7. Thomas Scott 8. George Zuber 9. Arron Applegate 10.Tony Bly 11. Tom Knight 12. Sean Holmes 13. Thomas Whealtey 14. George Guy 15. Matthew Holland
Substitues: 16.Sean Jones 17. Laurence Goodacre 18.Matthew Williams
