Hitchin 2s 8 – Enfield Ignatians 27
With an ever changing side the Hitchin 2s have struggled to find a winning formula however this Saturday on a very wet King Georges pitch although the final score didn’t go in Hitchin’s favour there were very promising signs of a team starting to gel and more importantly a resurrection of a team spirit that will turn future games into precious victories.
All but one of the Enfield scores came via the centre of the pitch with the key issue, for Hitchin, being lack of first up tackles (a common theme over the past 3 weeks!) so rather than dwell on the blatantly obvious that will surely be resolved with future selections and specific training sessions……………..get those tackle pads ready !! I’d rather pick up on the ‘positive’ elements from Saturday’s performance…………………
Most noticeably, first mention goes to the Man of the Match, Stephen Freeman who, 18 the day before, turned up for his first game of senior rugby to take up the position of tighthead prop. Now the ‘people in the know’ at Hitchin have been watching this guy for a while, playing colts rugby, and there was an anticipation that he would be able to transfer his obvious talent to the senior game…….it’s a pleasure to say that the boy (sorry man!) not only matched these aspirations but with hard tackling and strong all round play he exceeded anything the team and club could have expected……..certainly one for the future so ‘watch this space’
The young debutant started to rub off on a new look 2s pack and for the full 80 mins the 10 players (including subs used) dominated their opposition with some controlled, hard rugby……gaining those valuable inches up the field with ‘rambo’ rugby.
‘Landlord’ (Chris Mills) has taken only 1 game back playing rugby to find his stride again and together with Nick made a very strong 2nd row partnership……with a ‘smaller’ than usual pack fitness was key in the tough conditions and the hard work put in by all made sure that Hitchin had the lion’s share of possession. Mike Starling (a welcome return to Hitchin) made, at the last count believed to be over 40!, hard tackles on the Enfield pack and 9 (I think he liked the look of the 9 shirt and wanted to wear it!). Not far behind Mike was Andy Lockley (fresh from his 1st team debut the week before) showing why he has very quickly endeared himself to Hitchin with no-nonsense (just get on and do it!) rugby………………….
When you can then make ½ time changes and bring on Vidler (kiddie), Luke Pearse and Pat Dunne then you know your in good shape up front.
Final credit goes to those who dominated the forward set pieces…….Lex (now looking quite at home at loosehead), Tommy Tidey and Ryan Colclough worked well with the aforementioned Freeman to compete well in the front row and the lineout jumping of Max ‘Salmon’ Clayton (officially now the best lineout jumper in the club!) was on point, taking a number of the Enfield throws and making a general nuisance all day.
So with a ‘forward’ performance like that it’s hard to explain why this wasn’t reflected in the score………....but I’m keeping ‘positive’ and credit has to go to the backs who, ably marshalled by Adam Naylor, didn’t give up all game and can take the credit for adding the only Hitchin points for the day………….A Naylor penalty (that was never in doubt) and a cheeky kick and chase by Michael Painter was minimal reward for a team performance that deserved much more.
So not the win today…..but maybe something more valuable, not just the emergence of ‘young’ talent (and to that I add Ross Howard……who never gave up running, chasing and tackling men twice his size….not hard !) but the start of a fresh team spirit and attitude that will make Saturday afternoons and evenings even more fun !
And…….in 2 weeks it’s the return fixture vs Enfield……………..I’m not a betting man but I can’t see the result going their way again !!
Team Richard Lucas, Thomas Tidey, Stephen Freeman, Chris Mills, Nick Chirgwin, Andy Lockley, Michael Starling, Max Clayton, Ryan Colclough, Adam Naylor, Ross Howard, Ryan Bloomfield, Max Weatherhead, Marlon Banton, Michael Painter
Subs Mark Tidey, Patrick Dunne, Tom Mercer, Luke Pearse, Paul Vidler, Samuel Underwood
Scores T: Michael Painter (1)
C: Adam Naylor (1)
Player(s) of Match 1. Stephen Freeman
The league: Herts Mddx Merit Table