The Battle of Barnet 2006

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The original Battle of Barnet took place in 1471 around the playing fields of what is now Barnet Rugby Club.

This weekend's tournament was also a tough battle with a number of casualties in the field. After a heavy shower earlier the sun came out and made conditions hot on the field for the players.

14 members of the Under 11’s showed up to take on Datchworth, Chess Valley, Barnet and Fullerians which meant that every member of the squad took a full part in the tournament.

Hitchin 14 Datchworth 0

There was an untidy first half start by both teams to this game, probably due to the fact it was the first match of the season. However after a gentle word from Coach Shane at the interval the second half was much better. Hitchin passed the ball much better spreading the play, Henry was the first on the score sheet after bursting through the defence to score a try. Foxy did the honours with an accurate conversion. Jacob then scored a spectacular try in the left hand corner having receiving the ball out wide; again Foxy did the business. Unfortunately George landed heavily in this game and has a broken collarbone. Best wishes for a quick recovery.

Hitchin 7 Chess Valley 0

This was a hard game against an up and coming opposition. Hitchin should have been able to control the game better but it is fair to say our tackling (missed tackles) was a weak point. The game was settled by a charge for the try line by Joseph, with 2 or 3 Chess players attached to his back. Foxy again collected the extra points. This match led to Bryony, our Captain and incidentally the only girl in the tournament at our age level, requiring a sling following a hand injury.

Hitchin 7 Barnet 33

This was without doubt the toughest game in the group against the home team. Their running and passing proved difficult to contain. We suffered two break away tries from their 6’ tall eleven year old and were up against it.
At half time another gentle chat from Shane and Hitchin recovered a bit. Awarded a penalty near the opposition lines there was an intelligent switch of direction by Bryony (soon recovered and now without the sling) that caught the opposition out and again Jacob scored in the corner. With the pressure on, Foxy again converted the try to maintain his 100% record. It is worthy of note that Hitchin were the only team to score any points against Barnet.

Hitchin 0 Fullerians 0

This last game was always going to be tough, both teams anxious for points and tired.
This match was a battle of wills. The forwards for Hitchin were able to consistently smother the attacks by Fullerians. Much of the play was in the centre of the pitch and neither team could make the break for a point.
All in all an important draw for the team. One of the Fullerians coaches took the time to congratulate Hitchin on the way they were able to control the match.

After a bit of tense calculation taking into account all the permutations of points we came second in our group. Unfortunately no trophies, but an excellent result for our first matches of the season.

Player of the Tournament was William Hurry, consistent hard work and commitment in all the rucks and mauls.

Many thanks to all the players and also the supporters that made the trip to add their voices that gradually drowned out Shane’s gentle words of encouragement and guidance to both players and officials alike!