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EASTERN COUNTIES have two wins out of two in the County Championship Shield and will make the long trip to Camborne to face Cornwall on Saturday, attempting to secure top spot in the South pool.
At stake is a place in the Shield final at Twickenham on June 1 and with it promotion to the top-tier Bill Beaumont Cup for next season.
It was no short jaunt last Saturday to Chinnor RFC in Thame but the Eastern Counties squad – who were promoted from the Plate at the end of last season – utilised the four-and-a-half hour coach journey to take on liquids before a match against Oxfordshire played in temperatures in the mid to high 20s Celsius.
Counties were ahead 11-7 at half-time after two penalties by 19-year-old Hartpury College fly half Peter Clifford and a try by Diss lock Paul Cayley. The Counties pack bludgeoned over the line nine minutes into the second half to give tight-head prop Tim Groom (Diss) a try converted by Clifford, and Counties were able to give teenagers Gideon Strydom (North Walsham) and Jack Marczewski (Norwich) a half each on debut.
“Cornwall will be favourites but we will travel with an overnight stop on Friday determined to enjoy ourselves come what may,” said Nick Greenhall, Eastern Counties’ head coach, whose side is assured at least of remaining in the Shield next season.
“About two thirds of our squad have been down to Cornwall before with their club sides so they know what to expect from what is bound to be a noisy home crowd.
“We have a good set-up with Ian Forton as manager, Mark Balmain as his assistant and the coaches Tim Malone (Wymondham, forwards) and Dave Smith (North Walsham, backs) and everything in place really. We get around the clubs to see all our players and we make the County matches an enjoyable end to the season.
“The players fight for each other and the front row of Des Brett, Gideon Rossouw and Tim Groom is a mature one while Chris Godwin of North Walsham has been in smashing form as openside flanker.
“People tend to underestimate Eastern Counties in lots of ways, but it must have one of the largest volunteer bases in the country and has been doing very well at Under 15 level, with players coming through from there in recent years.”
HERTFORDSHIRE look to be safe from relegation and they retained the slimmest of chances of reaching the Shield final with a notable 31-26 defeat of Cornwall at Hertford last Saturday.
There were tries for the hosts by scrum half Ryan de la Harpe (Letchworth) and No.8 Dave Archer (Henley Hawks, 2), with two conversions and four penalties by Old Albanian fly half Richard Gregg.
The County Championship Shield (South) table shows Cornwall and Hertfordshire each have one win to Eastern Counties’ two, and Cornwall’s points difference is +53 compared with Counties’ +14, Herts’ -5 and winless Oxfordshire’s -62.
HAMPSHIRE’s blistering form in the County Championship Plate continued with a 53-0 win away to SUSSEX at Horsham.
That completed three pool victories for Hampshire with 163 points scored and none conceded, and they will have home advantage in the Plate semi-final against Kent at Basingstoke RFC this Saturday May 17 (2.30pm).
At stake is a place in the Plate final the following week (May 24) and promotion to the second-tier County Championship Shield.
There were Hampshire tries against Sussex – who finished as pool runners-up – for Simon Appleby (2), Karl Buttle, Sid Claffey, Grant Morris, Richard Buck, Dylan Raubenheimer and David Byett.
Hampshire manager John Byett warned against over-confidence, saying: "We haven’t been really tested yet.
“Although we have defended well in addition to scoring all those points, we don’t know what will happen if we are put under pressure. That will show how good this side is."
KENT surprised themselves by qualifying as the best runners-up despite losing their final pool match 18-0 to East Midlands and are now determined to give their best against Hampshire.
Kent trailed 15-0 to East Midlands at half-time after tries from wing Fearnley Simmonds, flanker Brett Daynes and full back Paul Ryder, and there was a second half penalty by Ryder.
Danny Vaughan, the Kent coach, admitted: “The match was over and I’d done my ‘sorry, but thanks for all your hard work and commitment’ speech to the players when we found out we were still in the competition, as the best runners-up.
“We have had a few problems with injury and unavailability at the end of a long season but we will be doing our best to win the semi-final.
“We were in the same situation two or three years ago away to Notts, Lincs and Derbyshire and had a kick at goal to win it before going out in extra time on try count. It would be great to go one step further this time.”
Vaughan is planning to strengthen his side with first call-ups this season for Hartpury College lock Royce Cadman (formerly of East Kent academy and Thanet Wanderers), Westcombe Park hooker Joe Moyce and Canterbury flanker and captain Chris Hinkins, plus the recall of Westcombe Park openside James Lindfield.
“This will address what we lacked against East Midlands, a few old heads,” said Vaughan, who also plans to move full back Frankie Neale “closer to the action”.
ESSEX will go no further in the Plate after a second successive narrow defeat, 13-12 away to Leicestershire.
South Leicester fly-half Mark Lord scored all Leicestershire's points with a converted try and two penalties. Essex rallied strongly and pulled to within a point when Ben Montgomery (Romford & Gidea Park) converted a try Basildon’s Jim Harman.
County Championship 2007-08 fixtures/results:
April 26
County Championship Plate: Pool 1: Leicestershire 43 Staffordshire 16 (Syston), Essex 44 Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire 18 (Eton Manor). Pool 2: Buckinghamshire 24 Sussex 39 (High Wycombe), Dorset & Wilts 0 Hampshire 55 (Swanage & Wareham)(result expunged – Hampshire 20-0 win with four tries). Pool 3: Berkshire 0 East Midlands 66 (Reading).
May 3
Bill Beaumont Cup: North: Cheshire 13 Yorkshire 20 (Macclesfield), Lancashire 35 Warwickshire 25 (Preston Grasshoppers). South: Devon 19 Somerset 13 (Barnstaple), Middlesex 18 Gloucestershire 22 (Staines).
County Championship Shield: North: Cumbria 0 Northumberland 38 (Kendal), North Midlands 41 Durham 16 (Stourbridge). South: Cornwall 66 Oxfordshire 8 (Redruth), Eastern Counties 33 Hertfordshire 23 (West Norfolk).
County Championship Plate: Pool 1: Staffordshire 24 Essex 21 (Lichfield), Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire 21 Leicestershire 22 (Newark). Pool 2: Hampshire 54 Buckinghamshire 0 (Basingstoke), Sussex w/o Dorset & Wilts (20-0 win with four tries). Pool 3: Kent 45 Berkshire 14 (Westcombe Park).
May 10
Bill Beaumont Cup: North: Cheshire 21 Lancashire 23 (New Brighton), Warwickshire 14 Yorkshire 10 (Coventry). South: Gloucestershire 23 Somerset 29 (Lydney), Middlesex 20 Devon 34 (Staines).
County Championship Shield: North: North Midlands 36 Cumbria 19 (Stourbridge), Northumberland 39 Durham 17 (Alnwick). South: Hertfordshire 31 Cornwall 26 (Hertford), Oxfordshire 14 Eastern Counties 18 (Chinnor).
County Championship Plate: Pool 1: Staffordshire 53 Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire 10 (Stafford), Leicestershire 13 Essex 12 (Syston). Pool 2: Buckinghamshire w/o Dorset & Wilts (20-0 win with four tries), Sussex 0 Hampshire 53 (Horsham). Pool 3: East Midlands 18 Kent 0 (Bedford Athletic).
County Championship Plate standings: Pool 1 Winner: Leicestershire; Pool 2 Winner: Hampshire; Pool 3 Winner: East Midlands; Best Runner Up (on points difference): Kent (+33) (Pool 3).
May 17
Bill Beaumont Cup: North: Warwickshire v Cheshire (Coventry), Yorkshire v Lancashire (Harrogate). South: Devon v Gloucestershire (Plymouth Albion), Somerset v Middlesex (Taunton).
County Championship Shield: North: Durham v Cumbria (Darlington), Northumberland v North Midlands (Tynedale). South: Cornwall v Eastern Counties (Camborne), Hertfordshire v Oxfordshire (Old Albanian).
County Championship Plate: Semi-finals: Leicestershire v East Midlands, Hampshire v Kent (Basingstoke RFC, 2.30pm).
May 24
County Championship Plate final (venue TBC).
June 1
Bill Beaumont Cup final and County Championship Shield final (Twickenham).
Ends
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