Woodford under-16s overcame Dagenham at the weekend to advance to the second round of the Essex Cup.

Dagenham 6 Woodford 17

WOODFORD under-16’s A side earned their place in the second round of the Essex Cup after defeating Dagenham at the weekend.

Billy Herring converted an early penalty for Dagenham but the visitors began to take control of the game, with prop Ian Bukenya crashing over for his first try of the season.

Scrum-half Dutch then broke through the Dagenham defence to race over, and following his conversion they took a 12-3 lead into half time.

But Dagenham would not give up easily and reduced the deficit with another Herring penalty.

In a nailbiting finish Woodford secured their second round spot as prop Brad Burrell crashed over after some good pressure from the visitors forwards.

Woodford go on to play Wesrcliff in the next round, in what will be a repeat of last season’s final.

Meanwhile, Woodford B’s were able to overcome Barnet 24-7 in a friendly.

Despite early pressure from Barnet, the B’s outdid Barnet by four tries to one, courtesy of Oliver Jones, Ellis Foot, Ellis Shore and Alex Storrie, with Harry Gahagan converting two.