Saffron Walden III 33 Upper Clapton A 5

Saffron Walden have big forwards. Most of them like to play within a ten meter radius of where they are standing and whilst that's not uncommon at this level it is effective.

Fifteen minutes after kick off on Saturday and it was clear that the A XV were in trouble. A series of Walden scrums and a driving maul resulted in three tries, two of which were converted, and a 19-0 lead before Clapton had barely touched the ball.

Whether it was because of the comfortable lead, or whether the forwards were seen to have done their worst, Walden then decided to expand the game to include their decent back line. This suited Clapton better and the Thornwood side's younger and generally fitter forwards were able to get more involved in the game.

Consequently Clapton's backs began to see more of the ball and make inroads into the Walden defence. The host's defence remained solid however until Ross Stalley made a cross field break only to get pulled down just short of the line. Cam Furlong arrived just before Carroll and cleared Walden tackler from the ball leaving Carroll to pick up and athletically dive over for his first try of the season. News later reached Clapton HQ that the grounding of the ball registered 5.7 on the Richter Scale in Newmarket. 19-5.

The second period started with Walden again on the ascent and spending long periods in the Clapton 22. Strong, well organised defence kept the home side out for around 20 minutes before the inevitable happened and Walden crossed the line for a 7 pointer. A second converted try followed soon after to take the score to 33-5 but this spirited Clapton side continued to try to reduce the deficit and came close on a couple of occasions before the referree signalled full time.

This was the first defeat for the A XV since 11 September which is a disappointment but the spirit displayed by the side underlined by the fact that they did not collapse when many other teams would have, shows that their desire for league and cup success this season is far from lost.

Team: Stav, Brown, Gould, Green, Carroll (rep Nicholson), Whickman, Doodle, Hunt, Frodo, Stalley R, Sweeney M, Smith, Stalley S, Furlong, Sweeney T.