BACK TO WINNING WAYS

b]Match report written by sports journalist Philip Bendon:[/b]

On a wet and blustery Saturday afternoon (26 October) in West Ham, East London 1st XV played host to Old Cooperians. Looking to replicate the England rugby team’s incredible form in the World Cup semi-final win over New Zealand, East London came out of the changing room with the White Stripes song 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 full back Max Stanyard on 14 minutes. Stanyard then missed the conversion as the strong wind played havoc with the ball in the air.
Next up it would be the visitors turn to put some pressure on the East London defence as they looked to batter their way through with their physical pack. The home side's defence held solid however with some big hits coming in, most noticeably from flanker Sam Cassidy who forced a big knock-on to stunt the Old Cooperians attack.
The visitors 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 24 minutes on the clock. This was negated soon after however as the visitors would be caught for offside and Stanyard made no mistake this time with a penalty as he pushed his side's lead out to five points once again to 8-3 with 27 minutes played.
The home side weren’t done yet however. Following a sustained period of play in the visitors' 22-metre line, number eight Daniel Bracken rumbled over next to the posts and with the ensuing conversion the home side now led 15-3 at the break.
East London got things under way in the second half, this time they would have the wind and now heavy rain in their faces for the second 40 minutes.
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 30 minutes. The home side bent a little but didn't as time and again they repelled the oncoming attack with big hits. The pressure did tell however as East London picked up only their second and third yellow cards of the season as both David Gibson and Lewis Bourke were pinged for infringements, resulting in uncontested scrums for a short period.
Despite the advantage of two extra players and sustained pressure the visitors couldn’t 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 side's effort. He said: "The boys defended absolutely unbelievably, at one stage with only 13 men on the pitch. Every player put his body on the line and every man did their role. It's exactly what we’ve been doing at training and it's probably the first time this season in defence that we've taken it on to the pitch. The boys should be really proud of themselves.”
Speaking of stand-out players, with this season’s leading try scorer scrum-half Will Brown absent, second team captain Joe Kelly stepped up with a strong performance. Gooby said: “Joe would’ve learned a lot today because it’s a different pace. He realises 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.
East London 1st XV: 1. Huw Shortland; 2. Lewis Bourke; 3. Mantas Urbonavicius; 4. Chris Brown; 5. Ben Stern 6. Nick Parrott; 7. Sam Cassidy; 8. Dan Bracken; 9. Joe Kelly; 10. Ryan Billinghurst; 11. Bill Brown; 12. Roger Ng; 13. Conor Reilly; 14. Kevin O’Donoghue; 15. Max Stanyard. Replacements: 16. David Gibson; 17. Oliver Hillyer-Riley; 18. Andrew Till.
Old Cooperians 1st XV: 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 Wheatley 14. George Guy; 15. Matthew Holland. Replacements: 16. Sean Jones; 17. Laurence Goodacre; 18. Matthew Williams.