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EAST LONDON 1st XV 32 - OLD COOPERIANS 1st XV 10

EAST LONDON 1st XV 32 - OLD COOPERIANS 1st XV 10

Gary Bird4 Nov 2018 - 13:58
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Storming second-half secures victory

MATCH REPORT By SIMON CRICK
A storming second half performance and a rare hat trick of tries from the front row forwards earned East London a deserved 32-10 win over Old Cooperians on Saturday (3 November).
The home side elected to play into the wind in the first half at the Memorial Ground in West Ham and started well by applying pressure to the visitors.
The opening try came after four minutes. Number eight Dan Bracken picked up from a ruck close to the line and scored. The conversion was missed.
The next 20 minutes was littered by handling mistakes from both sides. The visitors made the most of the wind advantage however, pinning East London back.
The home side had to work hard to claw the ground back with some excellent mauls and breaks by the backs. Some last ditch tackling by the visitors denied left wing Sean Cooper on a couple of occasions.
On the half hour Old Cooperians hit back with a converted try. At half time they led 5-7.
They extended the lead with a penalty on 44 minutes. From the restart East London dominated, pressuring the visitors and pinning them in their half. On 50 minutes the home side regained the lead from another short range try scored this time by prop Mantas Urbonavicius. It was converted by full back Alex Pearmain.
On 57 minutes fellow prop Ben Hogan finished off a driving maul which saw the pack working well together. The conversion by Pearmain took the score to 19-10.
The bonus point for scoring four tries was secured on the hour thanks to fly-half Ryan Billinghurst. The conversion was missed.
East London added a penalty from Pearmain on 68 minutes to take the gap beyond two converted tries.
Old Cooperians received two yellow cards in the next five minutes but worked really hard to contain the home side.
East London rounded off the scoring when hooker Lewis Bourke completed the hat trick for the front row. The conversion was missed for a 32-10 victory.
Head coach Eddie Gooby said : "We have played better but we stuck at it and turned it round. There was some some excellent performances in the pack who worked tirelessly in attack and defence. The backs also tackled themselves to a standstill against much bigger backs and forwards."
The win keeps East London in third place in London 3 Essex just four points behind leaders Epping Upper Clapton. There is a break before their next league action away on 17 November at bottom club Millwall who are without a win this season.
East London 1st XV versus Old Cooperians: 1. Ben Hogan; 2. Lewis Bourke; 3. Mantas Urbonavicious; 4. Ben Stern; 5. Eoin Kelly; 6. Simon Edscer; 7. Ed Brown: 8. Dan Bracken; 9. Alex Mylchreest; 10. Ryan Billinghurst; 11. Sean Cooper; 12. Lachlan McKenzie; 13. Will Brown; 14. Kevin O'Donoghue; 15. Alex Pearmain. Replacements: 16. Dave Gibson; 17. Matt Schofield; 18. Mo Akbar.
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