Dagenham 34 - 39 Chelmsford

Dagenham fell to a disappointing 34-39 loss this weekend to league-strugglers Chelmsford. Dagenham started relatively brightly, with centre Lewis Pruce going over early but deemed to have just been held up. Unfortunately, it was then Chelmsford who struck first. A clearance kick was fielded by their winger, who was afforded too much space and gratefully took it; racing in for a converted try. A rotated forward pack experienced some struggles at scrum-time and Chelmsford attacked this aggressively, making Dagenham possession from set piece messy. After period of defence, Dagenham were reduced to 14 after receiving a yellow card for an infringement. Chelmsford were awarded a penalty in front of the posts; they converted to extend the lead to 0-10. Dagenham responded quickly after this, good handling opened up the space down the left wing before the ball came back to Pruce to swerve his way over the line, 5-10. Dagenham soon took the lead after a good defensive display turned the ball over. Two good passes from Cameron and Groom found Nat Farrell on the wing, beating the first man and scorched up the touchline before giving the pass inside to Earl Gorman to crash over for the score. Cameron added the extras to take a 12-10 lead. However, in a developing theme of the game, Chelmsford struck back quickly. After a series of phase play, the fly-half took advantage of the narrowed defence by sending a well-measured cross-field kick out to the left winger to score in the corner. Following this, Dagenham put together some good phases of their own and Chelmsford were soon shown a yellow card. Dagenham were unable to find the killer blow however, and the pressure was soon relieved by the Chelmsford defence. They immediately found good territory, stretching the D's defence, before the fly-half repeated his earlier trick; this time a pin-point kick finding the right winger to score untouched. Dagenham continued to feel the pressure and were soon further behind due to a converted penalty, 12-25. They managed to draw themselves back into the game once again through centre Gorman, who picked a straight line to burst through and score under the posts. Dagenham were shown another yellow, but managed to hold out to half-time.

The second half started evenly contested, but a penalty enabled the visitors to extend their lead by another 3 points. Unfortunately, further injuries in the Dagenham front row forced uncontested scrums for the rest of the game. This also meant the home side would have to complete the game with 14 men. Dagenham however suddenly burst into life, with an excellent break from Jermaine Darkwa to run in a try from halfway. This was followed however by a very technical penalty being awarded at the restart, which enabled Chelmsford to add another 3 points from the kick. The D's responded well, putting together some of their best phase play of the game, before an inside ball saw Charlie Wilkinson crash over to score. Cameron's conversion was just denied by the post, to the leave the scores at an even 31-31 heading into the ten minutes. Both teams battled fiercely to find the winning score, but it was Chelmsford who managed to draw ahead, with a maul try in the corner. They were soon able to further extend the lead with a kickable penalty, 31-39. Dagenham continued to fight but time was against them. They were awarded a penalty, which Cameron knocked over, to bring it back to a one score game and also ensure the losing bonus point in the table, but ultimately they had left it too late to salvage the victory. Dagenham will be very disappointed to have lost this game at home, despite some uncontrollable factors going against them. They make the trip to Eton Manor this Saturday and will be looking for the big performance that they have shown they are capable of.