The above photo is courtesy of Ashley Woods following the 2s highly entertaining Harrison Cup game at Bridge Road. Thank you to everyone who went the pre-match lunch and supported on the sidelines. Post match, President Chris Harrison said "the lunch went really well and the game was very friendly, which is what my dad would have loved".

Meanwhile the Holt 1s, still looking for their first "double" of the season, travelled South to old friends and rivals Saffron Walden for their penultimate game of what has been a highly entertaining, interesting and successful season at level 6. A mid-table finish was the aim at the start of the season; there were many who thought that was very ambitious, or impossible, but with one round left to play it is certainly looking feasible.

So - to Saturday and a win over Saffron Walden, who Holt narrowly beat at home back in November, would without doubt have achieved this aim. After last week’s magnificent display against Woodford, hopes and spirits were high – Actually mathematically, all we needed was just one point.

As always thank you to Martyn Jackson, 1st XV Manager and Senior Fixtures Secretary for his match reporting below. Some decidedly dodgy photos were taken courtesy of my mobile; view by clicking here.

Post match Head Coach Phil Sharpe said: “We were our own worst enemies at points in this game. We need to find the consistency, not just for each game but consecutive games in order to push on in this league. I am, however, extremely proud of the players to have worked so hard, it’s been a huge step up and the players have given their all physically. We have a well deserved rest week, and then one final league game before we can celebrate what we have achieved this season”.

Martyn's Report: Saffron Walden kicked off into a blustery wind, and misjudged the kick which didn’t go 10m; scrum to Holt on halfway. Saffron Walden caught Holt napping and drove them back turning the ball over. They spread the ball wide, and feverish defence from Holt on their own 22 was judged illegal and Saffron Walden were awarded a penalty. They went successfully for the posts. 4 mins: Holt 0 Saffron Walden 3

SW (if you don’t mind this evening, it’s been a long day at work!) attacked from the restart, moving the ball well and keeping possession with a combination of good solid forward and back running and recycling. A foot in touch on Holt’s 22 gave Holt a chance to win some ball but SW turned over the line out, and once more attacked but gave Holt some reprieve by giving away a penalty on the Holt 22. Jackson cleared the lines down to the SW 10m. SW once more turned the line out over, spun the ball through the hands tearing through the Holt defence to score a try. The conversion was good. 10mins: Holt 0 SW 10.

Holt once again looked strangely lacklustre and slow off the mark. But SW, despite their league position below Holt, looked fast and willing to take the game to Holt at every opportunity. Again from the kick off they attacked Holt using both effective forward phases mixing it up with some good running from the backs, orchestrated by Josh Simmons their number 10. The Holt defence was being sorely stretched and tested almost continuously and eventually the pressure paid off SW scoring their 2nd try after 21 mins. The kick was missed. 21 mins: Holt 0 SW 15.

From the kick off it was Holt’s turn to get caught out by the gusty unpredictable wind. Jackson tried to put SW under pressure by kicking deep into their 22 but the kick went long and dead. SW scrum on halfway. Holt however won the scrum and attacked from deep. SW offended on the 22, and Holt chose to go for the posts; Charlie Gill was successful with the kick. 26 mins: Holt 3 SW 15.

From a Holt penalty on their own 10m line Jackson was again caught out by the wind, his kick going dead. From the scrum on Holt’s 10m line SW attacked but conceded a penalty on Holts 22. Pete Medler booted Holt back into SW territory. Another penalty on halfway enabled Medler to push Holt further deep into SW 22. Yet another penalty just 10m out saw Holt tap and go; They crossed the try line but were judged to have been held up. The goal line drop was caught by Jackson about 30m out, but his attempt at a drop goal went wide. From the 22 drop out Holt won a penalty on the SW 10m line, and Medler again put Holt back deep into the SW 22. SW once more cleared their lines, but yet another Holt penalty saw Medler again force them back to their own 5m line. Holt won the line out, spun the ball wide and found Ollie Woodrow who cruised past the SW defence to score. Gill kicked successfully from out wide. 44mins: Holt 10 SW 15.

Half time and Holt kicked off the second half. SW ran the ball straight back but went into touch about 25m out. SW turned the line out and surged forward, where Holt bundled them into touch 5m out. Jackson cleared Holt’s lines out to their 22. Holt turned the SW line out and Charlie Howard broke free. A knock on gave SW a scrum some 30m out and SW again ran at the Holt defence. Once again Holt bundled them into touch about 5m out. Medler attempted to box kick Holt out of trouble but again the wind played a part, holding the kick up giving SW an easy catch in field which they spun wide to beat the Holt defence and score their 3rd try. The conversion was missed. 10 mins: Holt 10 SW 20.

Once more SW attacked from the kick off, but knocked on, on the Holt 22. From the scrum, Holt broke free with Woodrow and McConnell linking up to take Holt over the half way line. SW illegally stopped them giving Holt a penalty on the SW 10m line.
Medler kicked into the corner. From the line out a good catch and drive saw Taylor Gowning crash over for Holt’s 2nd try. Gill converted. 12 mins: Holt 17 SW 20.

SW kicked deep into Holt territory from the re start, Holt’s defence holding up under the pressure. Medler cleared a free kick to the 10m line, Holt gained a scrum on half way but were penalised. SW kicked into the Holt 22, and from the line out they again span the ball wide. Holt defence held but a penalty was conceded on the 22. SW went for the posts. 25mins: Holt 17 SW 23.

Holt attacked from the kick off. An attempted chip over the SW defence by Jackson was charged down and SW again swept forward. A Holt scrum on their own 22 saw McConnell break through the SW defence, but once more SW stopped Holt on half way conceeding a penalty in the process. Medler went for the corner, but his kick was kept in field. A good chase by the Holt backs however kept SW in their own half. A Holt scrum saw the ball spun out to Woodrow who beat several SW defenders to score a brilliant try, his 2nd and Holt’s 3rd in the corner. Gill’s kick narrowly missed. 30mins: Holt 22 SW 23.

(My heart is racing just typing this, and I was there!) Anyway, from the kick, Jackson managed to burst through the SW defence, and made ground up to the SW 22. A great cover tackle stopped him but he offloaded to Woodrow in support, who in turn was also stopped on the about 10m out from the SW try line. From the resulting scrum SW kicked deep into Holt territory. Holt were judged to have knocked on, on their 22, and from the scrum SW attacked - but the Holt defence was equal to the task and cleared their lines out to the 22. From the line out SW ran the ball through the hands and crashed over for their 4th try. The conversion was good. 40 mins: Holt 22 SW 30.

Full time. Another highly entertaining game. With 3 minutes left of play, Holt were just 1 point behind, so Holt will rue missed chances and a poor start, coming away with nothing from a game they were capable of winning. They should however remain safe in this league with other results from the sides below them going in their favour. Holt gave well deserved first team debuts to Charlie Tidmarsh and James Horth. There is no game next week, Easter Weekend.

Holt set off on their travels again on Saturday 6th April undertaking the long drive down to Thurrock, then we move into cup games. Holt have a home tie v Harlow on Saturday 13th April, a good day to give the boys your thanks for providing us all with a great season at the highest level that Holt RFC have ever played at.

Congratulations to our Moongazer Man of the Match Olly Pearse for a good solid performance at 13.

DOTD Harry Yarbo but can't remember why!

Scorers Olly Woodrow 2 trys Taylor Gowing 1 try
Charlie Gill 1 penalty 2 conversions.