GREAT TEAM PERFORMANCE BY THE LONDONERS WINNING 13-12 AWAY AT CHELMSFORD IN THE CUP

Last ditch penalty beats Chelmsford 13-12
A penalty at the death from replacement fly-half Ryan Billinghurst took East London to the final of the Essex Intermediate Cup.
The 13-12 victory away at Chelmsford on Saturday (2 February) was the first time the home side had been beaten on their home patch this season.
Coach Eddie Gooby said: "It was an awesome team performance and a well deserved semi-final victory. These are the games we train hard for and we've won against a very good Chelmsford side. We played some great rugby."
East London had the lead on nine minutes. Right wing Sean Cooper collected a pass from fly-half Alex Pearmain and skipped round an attempted tackle to score. Pearmain missed the conversion.
Both sides continues to probe for openings and the home side thought they had scored on 29 minutes but were foiled when their try was disallowed for having a foot in touch.
Cooper also intercepted a pass on 31 minutes with a clear field in front of him but knocked the ball on. On 34 minutes Chelmsford missed a penalty and two minutes later East London had Pearmain yellow carded for a late tackle. The home side looked to take advantage but solid defence from East London on their goal-line kept them at bay including forcing a knock on when it looked easier to score. The lead was five at the break.
It became ten points on 46 minutes. A defensive clearance by inside centre Bill Brown was fumbled by a home back near his own line. Chasing flanker Simon Edscer gathered the loose ball to score. Billinghurst missed the conversion.
On 50 minutes Cooper, a constant threat down the right, dodged three tackles to make good ground but eventually knocked on in the tackle.
Two quick tries by Chelmsford on 55 and 60 minutes, only one of which was converted, gave them a 12-10 lead and they missed an opportunity to extend it on 70 minutes when they missed a long penalty in front of the posts.
East London, knowing they could still win the game, pushed on. The pack, now bossed by replacement Dan Bracken at number eight, went through various phases to make ground down the left hand side. With just a minute left they forced a penalty.
Skipper Nick Parrott let Billinghurst decide whether to go for the posts or kick to the corner for a line-out. The ice cool fly-half called for the kicking tee and floated the perfect kick through the uprights for a one point lead.
The away side safely gathered the ball from the restart and retained possession while the clocked ticked down. The joy as the final whistle sounded was obvious. They will now play Romford & Gidea Park in the Cup final at a venue to be decided. Romford won 24-15 away at Harlow in the other semi-final.
East London are back at Chelmsford next Saturday (9 February) when second play third in London 3 Essex.
East London 1st XV versus Chelmsford: 1. Mantas Urbonavicius; 2. Lewis Bourke; 3. Paddy Coman; 4. Eoin Kelly; 5. Dave Gibson; 6. Rob Yiannakou; 7. Simon Edscer; 8. Nick Parrott; 9. Will Brown; 10. Ryan Billinghurst; 11. Jack Roach; 12. Bill Brown; 13. Kevin O'Donoghue; 14. Sean Cooper; 15. Max Stanyard. Replacements: Ben Hogan; Dan Bracken; Jack Millard; Ryan Billinghurst; Aiden Power; Lachlan McKenzie.