Basildon 24 – 24 Chelmsford CHELMSFORD came back from the brink of defeat to draw this match against a committed Basildon side who were leading 24 – 12 with 20 minutes to go.

The game started with a flurry of tries, two to each side in the space of 11 minutes. Chelmsford scored their first after only two minutes when the ball went down the back line to Olly Wright, and then Seb Hill drew wing, Tatenda Garure, before he went over for a try, duly converted by Rhys Mason.

The lead was short lived when Chelmsford were penalised for being offside and a quick tap penalty was taken resulting in a converted try being scored.

The home side then struck again with a try in the right hand corner, to take Basildon into a 12 – 7 lead. Two minutes later, Chelmsford were level again when Seb Hill scored an unconverted try.

The second half was only two minutes old when Chelmsford were caught offside and a quick tap penalty resulted in the hosts scoring a well taken try out wide to take the lead by 17 – 12.

Basildon were gradually getting on top and it came as no surprise when Chelmsford lost possession from a line out and Basildon scored their fourth try by the posts the conversion taking the lead to 24 – 12.

It was not until the last ten minutes of the game that Chelmsford suddenly came to life with a try in the 39th minute by Jamie Ash, reducing the arrears to seven points. Two minutes from time, a driving maul resulted in Simon Quinn diving over for a try, which was duly converted by Rhys Mason to bring the scores level at 24 points each.

This coming weekend Chelmsford entertain promotion chasing Saffron Walden in the final league game of the season. Kick off is at 3pm at Coronation Park.