Old Elthamians showed real grit as they fought back on both sides of the half-time whistle to earn a 17-17 draw against Bishop’s Stortford.
Tries from Tom Concu and Alex Goble as well as a strong kicking display from fly-half Tom White saw Old Elthamians move to seventh in the table.
With a swirling wind and wet ground, conditions didn’t lend themselves to running rugby however both sides showed plenty of endeavour with ball in hand but at times struggled to make the final pass stick. It was the visitors who raced out to an early lead courtesy of a penalty from flyhalf Brad Burr in the ninth minute. The visitors quickly followed this up as left wing Mike Ayrton went over for a well taken try which was duly converted by Burr to give Stortford a commanding 10 – 0 lead.
Refuse To Give Up
Elthamians struck back however following some powerful forward play which lead to a try from loosehead prop Tom Concu. A conversion from Tom White brought the score to 10 – 7 late in the first half.
It was very much a tale of two quarters in the first half as Elthamians kicked into action and started to get a foothold in the Stortford half. This pressure led to a number of infringements by Stortford with referee Charlie Gayther giving plenty of warnings before awarding Elthamians a penalty in front of the posts on the stroke of half-time. The shot at goal was slotted again by White and it meant we went into the break with the sides locked at 10-10.
As the light began to fade and the floodlights kicked in, the sides got underway for what turned out to be an action-heavy second half. Stortford once again started strong and barged their way over for a very important score in the 59th minute with hooker Harrison King emerging from the pile with the ball. The conversion in front of the posts was a formality for Burr and Stortford were on the verge of what would have been a very important victory.
Continuing the theme of the match being played in quarters, Elthamians responded strongly as they retained the ball in Stortford’s half but could not seem to break through the red wall of defenders. With the forwards hammering away at the line it was going to take a moment of magic to break the Stortford line and it finally came as the backs put some air on the ball with winger Alex Goble sliding over in the corner to bring Elthamians back within two points.
Tom White must have had ice running through his veins as he stood on the right hand touchline and took his final look at the posts. Keeping his head down and following through the result was never in doubt as the ball sliced through the uprights to bring the scores level at 17-17.
Once again, both sides were at a deadlock and it was Elthamians who went straight on the attack. With five minutes left on the clock it was an all-out onslaught by the home side but despite coming close a number of times they just couldn’t break through the Stortford defence and with a late knock-on, Referee Gayther blew his whistle to signal full-time.
Stalemate
The result will be bittersweet for both sides, for Stortford who sat in 10th place on the National One table this draw sees them take valuable points against a team who are challenging for promotion. For Elthamians they showed their grit to come back and take away two points from a match that could have easily slipped away from them. The result however sees Elthamians slip to seventh on the table and they are now four points adrift of third place, whilst Stortford remain in 10th.
What has become clear is that the race for promotion is once again going to go down to the wire and as Director of Rugby Gavin Lach said to Press Officer Jon Edwards in the build-up to the match “As everyone predicted, there really is nothing to separate most of the clubs in the division at the moment.
“Everybody is beating everybody else and if a side can put a string of wins together going into the new year, that can push you right back into the promotion mix.”
Next up for Elthamians is a very important clash with Cinderford away who are currently just one point ahead as they sit fifth in the table. If Elthamians can come away with a win then they will be right in the mix heading into the Christmas period.
Old Elthamians:
15 – 9: L.Brown, Goble, Koteczky, Eastwell, Perkins, White, Claxton. 8 – 1: Kovacic, Barton, Saunders, Batt, Flashman, Holenstein, Morris, Concu.
Bench: 16 – 20: Brown, Self, Ledger, Morgan, Hotston
Bishops Stortford:
15 – 9: Hankin, Duff, Winter, J. Ayrton, M.Ayrton, Burr, Banks 8 – 1: Kingham, Ball, Apperley, Lewis, Thacker, Harrison-Price, King, Roberts.
Bench: 16 – 20: Dam, McCrone, Banks, Stannard, Spivey.
