Extra A 32 - Thurrock IV 3

Not unlike the prodigal son returning after years of wandering in the wilderness the Extra A made a triumphant return to their Thornwood HQ with are hard earned victory against a well chiselled Thurrock side on Saturday.

It wouldn’t have been a surprise if any of the squad may have forgotten the way to the Club as their last home match took place on November 8th 2014 (2.30pm KO). Anyhoo Sat Navs set to CM16 6NL

As with previous weeks the Extra A’s had the luxury of choosing from a full squad of 21. Most noticeable inclusions were the Father son pairing of Owen and Calum Coyne, with young Calum making his senior debut. Tom Plane was also making a rare appearance and looking a little green after the previous weekends Amsterdam exploits (and that’s quite enough said about that). Tom also brought a mate with him (Nick) who had been involved a couple of seasons ago but a Hurty leg curtailing his promising Extra A career!

With Marion pointing the way the Extra A’s made their way to the bottom pitch that resembled next doors farmers field (If you haven’t already please chip in to the pitch repair fund!) where Thurrock were waiting.
One issue the thirds have suffered from this season is in the front row. Use2be and Youthful have manfully stepped up to ensure games could still be played but after Youthful limped off the previous week with a season ending hurty it was non other than 85 year old Shrek who volunteered. Now although the Extra Legend made his name at prop some years ago he has deflated somewhat since then so when Referee Cootes explained just before kick off that Thurrock have a very experienced front row a sigh of inevitability that he was in for a loooong afternoon wafted over his green face.

Epping played with the wind in the first half which they took full advantage off by kicking long and challenging the visitors to play out from there 22. As the pressure continued to grow Clapton squandered several opportunities to score before Aggie finally buried his way over out wide.
Five minutes later and after the ball had been spilled on the Clapton 10 meter line George collected and eluded all would be tacklers to run in under the posts. Epping were now in full throttle and this led to one more score before half time with Conor Dowton cutting in off his wing, breaking a tackle as he made his way over the line for his first ever try in senior rugby.

Several changes were made at half time which potentially could have led to disruption for the home team in a tight, physical game but far from it. Thurrock now had the wind at their backs and kicked off the second half looking to replicate what the home side had achieved in the first.
During the early exchanges The Oaks converted a penalty to reduce Claptons lead by three points. Thurrock continued to press but the Clubs defence held firm with Calum Coyne showing his Dad how to make some bone crunching tackles. So embarrassed was Owen that he tried to sub himself off feigning a hurty hamstring and much to the amusement of Alan Chin-Shaw and Ian Peermamode on the touch line. Clapton added two further tries through Kenty and Jailboy, the latter after what could be argued as a dummy but universally agreed in the changing room as a speed wobble. The final score of the game came from the boot of Potato converting a wonderfully struck penalty at the second attempt.

Arguably Eppings best performance of the season against a very strong Thurrock team who battled to the end. The post-match shower banter involved discussions about the new club house and a request from several of the Thurrock players not to lose the fire place, leave that one with you Mike!

One more league game left this season, funnily enough AWAY at Woodford in two weeks time