Victorious 12s at Letchworth.

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A fantastic start to the season building on the form we showed towards the end of last year. The teamwork and commitment were outstanding with everyone contributing to their well-deserved festival victory.

Hitchin v Letchworth. Won 21 – 0.
(Tries: – James A(2), George. Cons: - Harry(3))

First half
From the kick off and George’s first crunching tackle we were on top against tough opponents from previous years. The pack were counter rucking and following a great take in the line out James A bulldozered through three tackles to score. A good catch by Peter from the restart and protection from his mates in the pack allowed early ball out to Henry who was isolated when tackled giving a scrum to Letchworth. Bryony took that against the head, with the props, William and Michael putting the nudge on. The ball went from Henry, via Hannah to George who linked with his forwards before being bundled out near the Letchworth line. We attacked their throw but indecision on our part in the maul enabled them to kick to safety. However just before half time Letchworth were caught offside going into the side of a maul and penalized. Our discipline remained strong and following good work by Jo and Bryony, the ball was ripped out by James A who carried several Letchworth players with him to score. Harry converted both tries.

Second half
A good run by Adrian, and good communication in the mauls enabled us to steamroller to the Letchworth line. Another scrum against the head, Miles fed his backs and George crossed in the corner after a flowing move, with Harry converting to put us 21 points in the lead. The dominance we then held didn’t result in any further scores, George’s interception causing a complete change in direction, and with Jo and Bryony prominent in the loose play. A short range effort from Miles was bundled into touch and a further knock on prevented Hitchin adding to the score. With Letchworth now running the ball from their own line the game ended as it started with George crunching their player with a great smothering tackle.

Hitchin v Stevenage. Won 26 – 12.
(Tries: - James A(2), Harry(2). Cons: - Harry(3))

First half
A change of personnel didn’t affect the momentum and Michael Fowler was immediately prominent in driving for the line. A penalty against Stevenage for a high tackle, a short ball to James A and the pack drove him over for the first score. We handed the advantage back to Stevenage by knocking on from the restart but stole their put in, with Adrian then driving up-field before passing to Harry who weaved a magical path to score from halfway. There then followed a great passage of interplay with the ball changing hands between forwards and backs with Hannah, Harry and George making ground before Harry found space to cut in and score. The first half ended with Euan making a smothering tackle, a maul developing with Michael and Adrian capturing the ball to feed James A who scored in the corner. Harry converted all bar one of the four tries.

Second half
We sat back perhaps thinking winning was a breeze, a knock on and Stevenage sent their big boys running at us to score a soft early try. Suddenly they were back in the game and basic errors crept into our game: forward passes, missed tackles, no drive in the rucks. A corner flag tackle in the mode of JPR by William prevented a certain try after the Stevenage player had outwitted our cover but still Stevenage pressed, being held up over the line. A penalty for offside allowed Stevenage to send their biggest player over from short range, with barely an attempt at a tackle from Hitchin. Basic errors on our part and determination from Stevenage show how a team can get back into the game – thank goodness for our healthy first half lead.

Hitchin v Datchworth. Won 14 – 7.
(Tries: - Harry, Euan Cons: - Harry(2))

First half
Good work by Datchworth had us on our line straight from the kickoff but Miles put in a good relieving kick. With Sam Owen making ground on the wing and Michael Fowler again prominent in the mauls we let ourselves down with indiscipline and the penalty count started to mount against us. A great take in the line out by Joe Rose-Gray and rucking by the pack stole the advantage back, but slow release of the ball allowed Datchworth to defend in numbers. At last a sustained break with Bryony, Joe and William allowing a quick release of the ball to Harry who crashed over, and converted well. The half ended with Euan showing his fleet footed class, and with both packs having a sustained mauling session of the sort best left for a cold winters day.

Second half
Going uphill doesn’t seem to suit us and again early pressure from Datchworth allowed them to fling a speculative pass out wide where their winger gathered the ball to score. Pressure from both sides left the game wide open with Hitchin held up over the line and the larger lads in the Datchworth pack outmuscling us in the mauls. With their forward momentum Datchworth secured the scrum put-ins and great defensive tackling by Henry, Hannah and Miles saw us to the final whistle after a torrid period of pressure.

Player of the Week: Michael Fowler

Special thanks to Chris Peel for refereeing and to our new reporter, Mike Hurry.