Epping Upper Clapton U16 vs Billericay U16 - Essex League Div 3 round 1

It's been 18 months or 553 days exactly since the last match for this group of boys who were U14s at the time! They have been looking forward to getting back out on the pitch and playing some 'proper' rugby for such a long time and this match was definitely no anti-climax !
Our excellent hosts at Epping & Upper Clapton welcomed us warmly to their club in glorious September sunshine, perfect conditions for the match.
Billericay kicked off and immediately took advantage of an infringement from the hosts, quick thinking from full back Taylor with a penalty taken as a drop kick and Billericay were 3-0 up before the match had a chance to get going!
The two teams traded possession and phases of play but you would never have known there has been no competitive rugby for such a long time, very little evidence of nerves or rustiness on display, the tackling was hard from both sides and all the boys threw themselves into the match. Epping forced Billericay back into their 22 and despite some excellent defending, the gap was found and Epping registered their first score of the day. The conversion was missed so it stayed at 5-3 to Epping.
Billericay hit back almost immediately with Harry D finding a gap, evading some tackles and using his pace to get between the posts, 8-5 to the Bees!
Billericay were on the attack again, a Billericay scrum on the right wing was worked through the hands of the backs all the way over to Ted on the left wing who fed Alfie coming in from the midfield to touch down in the corner, a fantastic score! 13-3 to Billericay. The first half was not done though and Epping broke through the Billericay line to get under the sticks, the conversion was successful so it was 13-10 at half time, a great first half of rugby.
The second half saw Billericay going down the slope but Epping came out with new energy and were starting to look really dangerous and dominating the possession more. The Billericay tackling however was superb and they kept the hosts pushed back. Quick thinking from captain Louis with a kick into the Epping 22 put their full back under pressure, James was on hand to steal it away and dived over for a great try in the corner, 18-10 to the Bees. Epping were not giving up though and hit back with a break down their left wing to take the match to 18-15, on a knife edge and surely the next score would be decisive. It came to Billericay via Harry D, another impressive run, evading tackles, wrong footing the defenders and touching down on the right wing to take it to 23-15 with 5 minutes to play. Billericay held the ball really well, Epping couldn't get any moves going and the referee brought the match to a close with Billericay taking the 'W' !
Huge credit to the boys from both teams and their coaches for their attitude to the match and the excellent spirit in which they played the game.

Congratulations Billericay U16s, what a great start to the season!

Paul
Team Manager (& water boy !)