So near but yet so far away

A try from the final play of the game denied East London’s 1st XV a victory as they lost 18-22 at the Memorial Ground in West Ham to Romford & Gidea Park.

The defeat on Saturday (16 Oct) drops the maroon and blues to 11th place in London 3 Essex with only Canvey Island below them. Head Coach Eddie Gooby said: “It was a hard result to take because it was our best display of the season. Unfortunately, we picked up some injuries at important stages which interrupted our game plan. If we continue to play like this, results will change.”

The game was scoreless until 28 minutes when Romford kicked a penalty (0-3). East London levelled and then took the lead with two penalties from fly-half Ryan Billinghurst (6-3). The home side extended the lead on 37 minutes thanks to a try from right wing Ben Davis. Davis started the move with a kick through. Full back Max Stanyard was first to the ball but flipped it up for Davis to run in. Billinghurst converted (13-3).

Two tries and a conversion early in the second half saw Romford take a two-point lead (13-15) until the 65th minute when outside centre Will Brown touched down following good work by Davis. The conversion was missed (18-15). With East London down to 14 players because of a yellow card offence, Romford scored the converted try at the death to win the match (18-22).

There was a win in Shepherd Neame Essex Merit Table Division 6 West for East London 3s who beat Billericay 2s at the Memorial Ground by 34-21. Tries by number 8 Michael Greig, inside centre Rowland Odunwo and full back Davit Goginashvili, and a Goginashvili conversion gave them a 17-7 lead at the break. Two tries from fly-half Alex Pearmain and another from second row Eoin Kelly with another Goginashvili conversion completed the scoring.

East London’s second team the Wyverns had their Shepherd Neame Essex Merit Table Division 2 trip to Chelmsford 2s postponed to a later date while on Sunday East London’s ladies’ team the Vixens gained a home walkover win against Rosslyn Park Ladies in Women’s National Challenge 1 South East (North).

On Saturday (23 Oct) the 1st XV travel to Braintree who sit eighth in the league, two points above East London. East London 2s have already been given a home walkover against Chingford 3s while East London 3s travel to Dagenham 3s. On Sunday (24 Oct) the Vixens visit to Haringey Ladies has been postponed to a later date.

East London 1st XV vs Romford & Gidea Park: 1. Stephen Beattie; 2. Lewis Bourke; 3. Chris Brown; 4. Angus Tidey; 5. Josh Norton; 6. Eddie Brown; 7. Tony Rumore; 8. Nick Parrott; 9. Josh Campbell; 10. Ryan Billinghurst; 11. Bill Brown; 12. Karim Russell-Ketfi; 13. Will Brown; 14. Ben Davis; 15. Max Stanyard. Replacements: 16. Dave Gibson; 17. Paul Bortnowski; 18. Dan Bracken.

East London 3rd XV vs Billericay 2s: 1. John Salthouse; 2. Ben Hogan; 3. Mo Zouabi; 4. Eoin Kelly; 5. Mo Mohamed; 6. Thomas Melieres-Frost; 7. Simon Edscer; 8. Michael Greig; 9. Joe Kelly; 10. Alex Pearmain; 11. Thomas Rochette; 12. Rowland Odunwo; 13. Alex Nolan; 14. Flavio Rossetti; 15. Davit Goginashvili. Replacements: 16. Pete Stubbs; 17. Roberto Finelli; 18. Henry Wallace; 19. Will Emery; 20. Sam Corbett.