London One North Sudbury 42 Saffron Walden 19 Sudbury ended their season on a high by convincingly beating Saffron Walden at home on Saturday.
Perhaps spurred on by the large crowd or the training session with England boss Eddie Jones the previous evening they put on a good display of rugby to conclude the season.
Playing up the slope in perfect conditions Sudbury took the second scrum in the Walden half and broke wide right, for Frazer Beckett to finish the move under the posts after five minutes of play. Chris Lewis added the extra two for an early lead.
Walden replied five minutes later, having taken a quick tap penalty and used their hand speed to create space to score wide.
Sudbury’s Charles Jackson put in a sprint down the wing to regain the lead from a scrum on the left and quick hands to move the ball right after 25 minutes.
Good defence by Sudbury then ended any moves by Walden and extended their lead. From a scrum ten metres out Jake Thurlow picked up and the maul rolled over the line with Shaun Smith on the bottom of the heap, Summers adding the extras.
The hosts missed the opportunity to extend the lead with a penalty kick just on half-time but enjoyed a 12-point lead at the break. Sudbury were now in control of the game and from a scrum midway in the Walden half the ball went wide to Jonny Taylor to cross the line for the bonus point try.
A scrum in the Sudbury 22 saw Walden go through three phases of play to score and convert. Sudbury brought on their replacements but the opposition scored again when missed tackles let them through.
But the hosts kept the pace of the game high and the pressure on for the last 15 minutes.
Tom Summers kicked a penalty from the middle of the park and a second from the 22 when Walden deliberately killed the ball as Sudbury attacked and received a yellow for their troubles.
Sudbury were now able to enjoy the rest of the afternoon as Tommo Barry made a good break, finished off by Beckett.
From the restart Smith took play back to the Walden five line but was held up, they kicked for relief only to have Taylor run straight back through the defence to score. With time running out Sudbury kept up the pressure but Saffron Walden competed to the end and prevented any further score.
A good all round performance to finish the season.
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