BARKING 1ST XV 7 - 52 EAST LONDON 1ST XV

BARKING 1ST XV 7 - 52 EAST LONDON 1ST XV

Ten-try blitz in away victory over local rivals
Ten tries from East London saw them blitz local rivals Barking 52-7 in an away performance on Saturday (29 February) that oozed quality in all departments.
Forced to make a number of changes because of injury or unavailability, it didn’t knock the maroon and blues off their stride which left head coach Eddie Gooby purring: “That has to be up there amongst our best performances of the season in terms of how we approached and dominated the game.”
Barking kicked off with the strong wind in their favour but the visitors had the best of the early possession. Fly-half Fab Matos, making his first team debut against his former side, kicked through on two minutes but the home side gathered to put in a clearing kick from their line.
East London skipper Nick Parrott opened the scoring on seven minutes. Scrum-half Ryan Billinghurst took a quick tap penalty and was tackled short but the ball was recycled to blindside flanker Parrott to score. The conversion was missed in the gusty conditions (0-5).
Left wing Andy Till almost extended the lead three minute later after a fine run but was bundled into touch. The second try came on 15 minutes. From a scrum ten metres out. Bracken picked up and surged forward and the move was finished off by openside flanker Sam Cassidy. The try was not converted (0-10).
On the rare occasions that Barking came forward they were shackled by superb East London defending. They stole line-out ball on their own five-metre line on 17 minutes and then won a scrum against the head nine minutes later.
Their next try came on 28 minutes. Hooker Lewis Bourke broke through the middle and the ball came through the backs for outside centre Kevin O’Donoghue to score. The conversion was missed. (0-15). The bonus point score came on 35 minutes when right wing Aaron Crane finished off a move created by O’Donoghue. The conversion went wide (0-20).
Parrott finished off a superb move just before the interval. Powerful running by inside centre Bill Brown and then full back Max Stanyard was finished by Parrott. The conversion was missed (0-25).
Barking began the second-half strongly. They thought they had scored on 42 minutes but an East London hand was under the ball on the line. On 56 minutes Till superbly caught a high ball in the wind to call for the mark and clear. Four minutes later he intercepted a Barking pass for an easy run in from the half-way line. The conversion was missed (0-30).
There was almost another on 65 minutes. Stanyard just failed to get downward pressure on a chip kick to the corner from Matos. It was replacement forward Will Harvey who extended the lead when he held off four tacklers to bundle over. It was not converted (0-35).
Pressure by Bill Brown forced a defensive error from Barking on 71 minutes. As the ball was fumbled, Brown kicked on, followed by another kick forward by Stanyard who scored. The conversion was missed (0-40).
Good work from Bracken set up Billinghurst to dart through a gap in the home back line to score with five minutes remaining. The conversion was missed. (0-45) Stanyard rounded off the East London scoring on 78 minutes with a try and to the delight of his team-mates converted from out wide, with the ball bouncing on the crossbar before dropping over (0-52). Barking scored a consolation converted try effort at the end (7-52).
Coach Gooby added: “We are still in good shape and looking to finish third in London 3 Essex with just three points separating us and Upminster in third and Braintree in fourth.”
East London 1st XV versus Barking 1st XV: 1. Stephen Beattie; 2. Lewis Bourke; 3. Ben Hogan; 4. Dave Gibson; 5. Chris Brown; 6. Nick Parrott; 7. Sam Cassidy; 8. Dan Bracken; 9. Ryan Billinghurst; 10. Fab Matos; 11. Andy Till; 12. Bill Brown; 13. Kevin O’Donoghue; 14. Aaron Crane; 15. Max Stanyard. Replacements: 16. Paddy Coman; 17. Will Harvey; 18.