Bancroft bow out of the Shield after Dagenham defeat

5:12pm Wednesday 27th February 2008

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Bancroft 5
Dagenham 25
(Essex President's Shield SF)

BANCROFT bowed out of the Essex President's Shield at the semi-final stage on Saturday against an in form Dagenham side.

They welcomed the D's to Hillside Avenue but fielded a weakened team against the Essex One leader's.

The early stages of the game were cagey. Dagenham's wayward passing and offloading frustrated the visitors' attempts to score early, while Bancroft toiled well as a team but struggled to create openings.

But it was the hosts, who took the lead by capitalising upon an overthrow at a lineout. Russell Thame expertly hacked the ball through from the overthrow to touch down for an unconverted try.

Dagenham edged back into the game, but were still lacking the killer pass. They pushed the home side back into their 22 where captain James Dempsey infringed once too often, giving the referee no option but to sinbin him for ten minutes. Paul Roberts made no mistake with the penalty, for the score to stand 5-3 to Bancroft at half time.

With the scores tight Bancroft could see an upset on the cards, but Dagenham had other ideas. The D's came out for the half very fired up and took the game by the scruff of the neck.

They enjoyed the lion's share of the territory and possession, looking to score from every attack. Bancroft stood up to the task for 20 minutes before their lines were breached for an unconverted try by Paul Roberts.

Having taken the lead for the first time, they built quickly on the advantage with West Calverley touching down out wide to make it 5-13.

The wind was now in Dagenham's sails. Simon Argent, Dexter Devlin and Calverley made a number of excellent breaks but were denied by some great defensive work. The continued pressure took its toll on Bancroft, and Jordan Wigham was eventually able to charge down an attempted clearance kick and pounced on the loose ball for the D's third try.

Argent was able to intercept a long pass and sprint home from the halfway line. Paul Roberts sealed the victory with the extra two points.

Afterwards, Bancroft stalwart Thame said: "A huge effort was put in by the entire team which they can be proud of and hopefully take into the League games in the coming weeks."

Dagenham skipper Ben Fowler said: "I am delighted for everyone involved today. We showed great character to put in a decent second half performance after being off colour in the first period."