Saffron Walden Rugby Club lifted two county titles in a great day at their Henham base.

The first team got their prize by default with a walkover success over Ely.

The seconds though enjoyed a 22-13 victory over Haverhill.

 

For the first quarter, the visitors had most of the possession and it needed strong defence to keep them out.

It gave them the base though to attack from deep with Ben Stapleton breaking a couple of tackles before popping it to skipper Paul Marshall to go under the posts unopposed.

He converted his own try but Walden were soon hit by a yellow card for fly-half Mark Willingale throwing a punch in retaliation.

And Haverhill used the man advantage to score from close range, although they couldn't add the extras.

Walden's pack started the second half much stronger and a close range shove sent Sheldon Thake over on 52 minutes.

Haverhill responded and reduced the gap back to two points with a second try, scored in the corner, but with their forwards tiring, it allowed Walden to gain more control.

The backs were also going through their moves and youngster Sam Taylor joined the line at pace to charge over.

Marshall's conversion edged the lead out to 19-10 with 15 minutes but a second yellow card for Willingale, this one for a tip tackle, meant a red and Walden down to 14 for the remainder of the contest.

Haverhill took the three points from the resulting penalty but the final 10 minutes belonged to Walden.

A penalty against Haverhill for going off their feet at a ruck was kicked over by Marshall, restoring their nine-point lead, and with Haverhill never managing to get close in the final five minutes, it was left to the skipper to kick the ball off the field and seal the trophy.