Epping 2s 36 - Ampthill 4s 24

It took Eppings finest performance of the season to overcome the previously unbeaten Ampthill 4s on Saturday.
This was the last game of the first round of fixtures in the league with Clapton ending with just one defeat to their name and if Saracens Amateurs hadn't decided to take the points rather than re arrange their fixture the Club could have found themselves top of the table for Christmas.
For this match Clapton were missing several players who had beaten Finchley the previous week. in came Martin Smith, Willy Parish, Matt Sweeney, Rhys Brown and Toby Sweeney. Alan Swales was also making his first appearance for a number of weeks after suffering a hurty hand after an arguement with an escalator. It looked like Swales had spent a lot of this time down the gym as had reappeared with plenty of bulkage
Swales also Captain for the day.
Epping kicked off and for the first ten minutes it was extremely clear why Ampthill were unbeaten as they controlled the ball well at the breakdown which set loose there dangerous big runners crashing into the home sides defense.
Clapton though we're not yielding ground and when they did manage to get ball in hand looked more dynamic around the park.
When Clapton ran the phases space was appearing in the visitors defence and this was to lead to the opening try of the afternoon when the ball founds its way wide to winger Lindsey Dobbin who accelerated around his opposing winger and showed a clean pair of heels all of the way to the try line, Douglass converting.
This lead however was short lived as the visitors resumed there one out rugby and within five minutes had levelled the scores.
This was to form the pattern for the rest of the match as Ampthill enjoyed the majority of the possession while Clapton looked the more dangerous team when they did manage to get ball in hand.
For the next twenty minutes the club's defence excelled as they waited for the error. In return the home team scored a further two tries, a second for Dobbin and a superb solo effort for the in form Fraser Parris.
With five minutes of the half remaining Epping eased off a fraction and this gave the visitors the required momentum which they took full advantage of by scoring two unconverted tries that levelled the score at the break.
Clapton made one change at half time with Matt Kelley who was showing the puppy dog "please take me off" eyes and so was replaced by Steve Hill
With Ampthill finishing the first half in the ascendancy it was important that the club regained the initiative and for the next twenty minutes that was exactly what they did with two George Douglass Penalties and a hat trick try from the impressive Dobbin.
To say though that Clapton were having it all there own way would be far from the truth as Ampthill continually pounded Clapton's try line. This eventually was to bare fruit with the number 8 breaking a tackle and powering over.
This score brought the visitors within one converted try from taking the lead and a nerve tingling final few minutes.
Fraser Parris however was to have other ideas as from the resulting kick off the ball was regained by the home team and after a couple of breaks found themselves in the opponents twenty two. A loose pass was then collected by Parris who broke through the initial tackle and then ran around the defensive line to touchdown in the corner.
This was to prove the final score of the day with the referees full time whistle being met with cheers from the home team.
Captain Pudding gave a rousing post match speech that contained several long words that nobody understood but well done anyway!

A superb result for Clapton's 2nd team who are improving game by game as they get accustomed to each other.
Several players worth mentioning this week. In the pack the work rate and tackle count of both Matt Sweeney and Rhys (We wished he played more often) Brown. Jakk Harty also put in a shift before retiring early in the second half with a hurty leg.(being replaced by Extra A leg end D'mo)
For the backs Fraser Parris and Joe Walker ongoing impressive performances continue to be the talk of the senior coaches.
The man of the match though went to Lucca's Moretta who found himself at outside centre this week after George Cook had been called up to the first team at the last minute. Lucas defensive work was outstanding and is growing in confidence every match with his attacking play.

The 2s take a break from league action now until the end of January but will be looking to keep themselves busy in the meantime.