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High hopes are dashed as mini revival is ended
LONDON LEAGUE
DIVISION THREE NORTH EAST
Harlow 15 Newmarket 5
HOPES of a mini-revival for Newmarket were swiftly ended on Saturday after succumbing to their 12th league defeat of the season.
After claiming a hard-fought win over Sudbury seven days earlier, confidence among the camp going into their clash with second-placed Harlow was high.
A cagey opening 40 minutes saw an extremely hard-fought battle, the game was exceptionally tight in the loose with Newmarket dominating the scrummage and Harlow on top at the lineout.
Mike Reeves missed Newmarket’s only chance of points when his difficult penalty attempted drifted past the posts.
Harlow turned down an eminently kickable penalty in favour of kicking to the corner where Newmarket did well to stop the drive and eventually turn over possession and release the pressure.
Harlow had threatened several times from blindside scrum moves in the first half and finally they caught the Newmarket back row flat-footed and executed a perfect overlap for their winger to race over unopposed early in the second period. The consistent Harlow fly-half added the extras for a 7-0 lead with a tricky conversion.
The contest remained tight and Harlow narrowly missed the chance to extend their lead when a penalty attempt struck both the post and crossbar before bouncing to safety.
Eventually Newmarket managed to generate some good, quick ball and Liam Cocks unloaded a perfect crossfield kick, excellently-weighted for the onrushing Davey to collect and score unopposed. The difficult conversion was missed by Cocks and Newmarket trailed 7-5 with 20 minutes to play.
With the game finely poised, Newmarket’s decisive moment came with 15 minutes to go. A simple move saw the backs set Phil McBride away.
Finding himself with just the full-back to beat, he comfortably rounded the opposing player only to lose his footing on the greasy surface with the line at his mercy.
The stroke of luck allowed Harlow to regroup and capitalise on Newmarket’s frustrations and ill discipline to work good field position and score from a catch and drive ended with another excellent kick from the home fly-half extending the lead to 14-5.
Newmarket turned down a very kickable penalty in their desire to play at a fast tempo.
This was an opportunity that could have earned an important bonus point and was symptomatic of the dull decision making displayed at crucial times.
The experienced Harlow fly-half would ensure that Newmarket spent the final five minutes trying to play from within their own 22, they fought gallantly but could not find a way through.
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Weather for Newmarket
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
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