Ed Taylor battles the elements at the back of the breakdown.
Hitchin 36 London New Zealand 5
Back in action after 3 weeks of cancelled games, Hitchin put 5 tries past London NZ with some fine handling despite the torrential rain. Straight from the kick off Hitchin had London NZ under pressure. Despite retrieving the kick-off poor hadling in the NZ backs allowed the ball to be kicked through. A mis-timed off load was seized upon by Duane Brand who crashed over the line before most of the large Vice Presidents crowd had had a chance to finish their port! Jack Peachey scored the conversion. The re-start saw Hitchin quickly back on the offensive and following a number of good forward drives Hitchin were back on the NZ goal line. Given a penalty for slowing the ball at the breakdown scrum half Ed Taylor took a quick tap ball and was held up short of the line. The forwards drove over and the ball was moved out to the backline, Peachey drew his man and fed Joe Benucci who went over the line for the second try. A succesful conversion was followed by a penalty, both from Peachey.
A lapse in concentration allowed the visitors to get on the score board with a fine individual try from their openside winger. This score was the wake up call Hitchin needed and they were back on the attack. More pressure on the Kiwi line and a number of rucks eventually lead to Ian Thomson picking from the base of the breakdown to dive in for Hitchins thrid try. The driving rain got steadily heavier throughout the half and despite this Hitchin still were able to spread the ball and make some good yardage with Lewis Skittral and Rob Willoughby being instrumental in most of these attacks. ED Taylors work around the set piece was lively and kept the ball moving and thus the Kiwis on the back foot.
The second half saw Hitchin playing with the tide as the torrential rain somehow got heavier. Hitchins build up play was still strong and their handling worked well. A strong run by Jon Perkins at No.8 put Taylor away for the next score within 10 minutes of the re-start. As the game progressed all of the play was now in and around the Kiwi 22m area. Unfortunately Hitchins handling only seemed to let them down once over the goal line and 3 or 4 chances were thrown away. The final score of the match came from James Larman who, collecting the ball just outside the 22m line, outpaced what was left of the defensive line. The final whistle was blown and Hitchin had collected the bonus point win.
Team Thomas Tidey, William Corrigan, Sean McGinnity, Ryan Arbon, Nick Panton, Ian Thomson, Dominic Bush, Joe Benucci, Ed Taylor, Jack Peachey, James Larman, Rob Willoughby, Duane Brand, Steve Merritt, Lewis Skittrall
Subs Stuart West, John Perkins, Christopher Stubbs
Scores T: Ian Thomson (1), Ed Taylor (1), Joe Benucci (1), Duane Brand (1), James Larman (1)
C: Jack Peachey (4)
P: Jack Peachey (1)
The league: London North West 3