Letchworth Mini Festival

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Hitchin u10's do the club proud.

The squad assembled very early (9.00) for a warm up (much needed on this first chilly morning of Autumn) and the first game against hosts Letchworth. This was to be the first time these players had contested scrums and line-outs to deal with. Hopefully they would be inspired by England’s return to form against Tonga, which had seen them progress to the last 8 in the RWC. Some new players were with us.
Squad Aaron, Andrew, Ashley, Ben, Bradley, Daniel, Frazer, George, Jack, Max, Oliver D, Oliver M, Oliver P, Oliver S, Sam, Taylor, Tom, William J.

GAME 1 Letchworth 0 v 2 Hitchin
Frazer , Oliver M

Ashley, Ben, Bradley, Daniel, Frazer, Jack, Max, Oliver M, Tom

After the hosts started, Ashley made the first of his numerous long, weaving runs and set up a good position. A high tackle ended it. From the resulting penalty, Oliver M went over. 0-1. Jack also ran well and Tom and Frazer made scything tackles to keep it tight, following intense L pressure. 0-1 at H/T. Ashley took the restart and Bradley, showing up very well in his first game, just went into touch. Frazer made it 0-2 after stretching well for the line. A big scrum on the line, with the ref unsure about the call, was relieved by Jack’s strong tackling and a run out of defence, but a knock on spoilt the good work. Tom tackled like a demon on the wing and later picked up well to threaten, and big defence meant a clean sheet was kept, 0-2.

A friendly training game then took place between Hitchin and Stevenage (bridge building!) with Andrew, Harry, Oliver P, Oliver S, Russell, Sam, Taylor, Will J,
Russell made a great run to start of, 1-0 then Oliver P showed his strength 2-0. Half time led me to desert the post to comment on festival Game 2, so thanks to Steve J for this:- 2-1 followed, but good runs by Aaron, and William, plus impressive tackling kept up the pressure. Aaron got over for 3-1 at the close. Scrums were not being contested in this game, due to the newer players involved.

GAME 2 Hitchin 2 v 0 Stevenage
Jack, George
Ashley, Daniel, Frazer, George, Jack, Max, Oliver M, Oliver P, Taylor,
Ashley’s opening run was again halted by a high tackle –is this the only way to get him down? Jack got a try , with good inter-passing. Daniel then burst down the line, but was forced into touch. A big scrum from S went against the head, but both Olivers ran well. (We now have 4 in the squad!) George fed a nice spin pass, but Max was unable to gather. 1-0 at HT. Ashley drove brilliantly , but a S run ended with a knock-on. A scrum on their line, led to George nipping over well, 2-0. The video ref would have been called for, as George looked pleadingly at the Ref, but his work was good enough to award the try. Daniel, doing a passable impression of Superman, finished things off. 2 games down, 2 wins.

GAME 3 Hitchin 1 v 1 RoystonOliver M
Tom returned and Bradley also came back in. We began to think of glory , as we scored through Oliver M after a good Ashley offload. Frazer executed a switch and Ben, whose handling has improved greatly, supported well. 1-0 at HT. Good defensive work was seen after the break, but Hitchin were not getting good ball and lacked attacking edge. Right at the final whistle, Royston equalised, to a distraught Hedgehogs team.

GAME 4 Hitchin 0- 1 Datchwoth
Ashley, Ben, Daniel, Frazer, Jack, Max, Oliver P, Taylor, Tom.
Our opponents had also W 2, D 1, so it was winner takes all in this final match. Missed tackles led to the opening score against us, perhaps the long grass was taking it’s toll on the legs. Our forwards were guilty of not supplying quality ball to the backs, with too many runs into touch. A 4-0 overlap was also ignored. A long instruction on line-out play was given by the Stevenage ref , insisting that the ball was thrown in straight. Taylor was ripping with vigour but D made a good break. Ashley made a try saving tackle, following a long run. 0-1 at HT. Ashley continued his impersonation of the incredible rubber man, bouncing his way through the 9 players. Further line-out problems, however, led to a very disjointed 2nd half, with Hitchin pressing right up to the final whistle. Frazer bravely threw himself into attack and was dumped into touch near the line, leaving a dent in the ground and a very sore head.
So, a narrow loss, but we were 3rd overall. P 4 W 2 D 1 L 1
This from Tony:-
What a great morning.
Thanks to all that came. I just need to apologise for the admin error once
more. If we had had two teams then more of the kids would of played in the
main tournament.
However as I said during the morning, it is too early for some of the newer
players to be thrown into games like this. We need to educate them in the
game to prevent injuries etc, and ensure they enjoy it. Playing too soon in
full contact rugby could put some kids off. Bare with us on this, because
there is some promising looking stars.
As for the players who have been part of the squad for a while and didn't
get a game I apologise also, but with two wins and looking like we could of
won the day a "coaches job is not easy"
The teams selected were playing so well it was difficult to change it.
I'm very proud of the team today, players and players not on the pitch. They
showed that being part of the team does not necessarily mean they have to be
on the pitch.
The last ditch "Datchworth" game was disappointing, but we did ourselves
proud and came very close to winning. Only one try decided it. Well done to everyone.
Milton Keynes will be a different set up and ALL players will get good run
outs. Thanks for understanding the situation this morning. Next tournament we can
select just one team to go. Stevenage training game was good, and nice to see we won that 3-1 too.
Colin, again, thanks for reffing .See you all next week 10am please.