Honours even for U12s

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Our first home match of the season gave us the opportunity to play two games against a good St Neots’ squad of 14. The first game was for our strongest side while the second gave our less experienced players a good run out and allowed others to try new positions.

Hitchin A - 21 v 7 - St Neots
(Tries: Harry, George & Euan. Conv: Harry x 3)

1st half
A day for proper rugby, wind and rain adding atmosphere to a heavy autumnal day, as we welcomed St Neots to King Georges Fields. Straight from the kick off Bryony and William demonstrated good mauling technique, backed up by solid first time tackles from Harry and Hannah. An early scare saw Hitchin unable to clear their line but strong ripping by Harry from a maul saw us break out, only to be caught handling in the ensuing ruck. That rarity of a catch by William in the lineout, and a quick feed to Miles led to Harry and George streaming upfield. Swift ruck ball and smooth passing saw Euan flow through the St Neots defence to notch up the first score, with Harry converting. From the kick off James A and Callum ran strongly but the attack ran out of steam for a lack of support. A half time lead of 7 – 0 was small reward for constant Hitchin pressure.

2nd half
Playing into the wind we expected St Neots to kick long and attack from the start, however their kick went dead, deflating that notion. From the scrum we saw Harry waltz through to score and then convert his own try. With the St Neots kick off not going 10m we had an early attacking scrum where Peter and Adrian knuckled down to the hard but unseen roles they play in the depth of the pack. However, we lost the ball at the next ruck by simply stopping and letting them drive us off, a recurring theme where a pick and drive was called for. Momentum was however maintained and William caused a knock on by St Neots in the tackle to give Hitchin a strong attacking position. Whilst the ball was lost against the head a fine interception by George “Habana” saw him run in from a short distance. Again Harry converted to keep up the 100% record. Pressure was maintained with Adrian and Hannah making ground before a degree of relaxation allowed St Neots a late consolation try.

Hitchin B -7 v 35 - St Neots.
(Try: Bobby. Conv: Harry)

1st half
With our kick off falling short St Neots had an early attacking scrum at which their meatier pack began to demonstrate an advantage which was ultimately to be reflected in the score-line. Good tackling by Bobby and William saw St Neots on the defence and when they fly hacked away Henry’s deft chip ahead a score was on the cards. A short range penalty featured Michael and Bryony securing clean ball and a swift passing movement featuring Hannah and Charlie gained room for Bobby to dive in at the corner. The ever reliant Harry converted to once again create a lead of 7 – 0 to Hitchin. Unfortunately, from the kick off St Neots drove through a timid defence to level the scores at half time.

2nd half
A change of Hitchin personnel and a new look pack soon saw the need for further reorganization when Ashley had to leave the field following a bang to the head. The lack of real game time playing as a team was punished by St Neots spying an advantage in the close quarter exchanges where 50/50 ball was now going all their way. Stirring defence by George and Bryony and a debut raging bull charge by Reece showed we were bowed but not dispirited in what turned out to be a torrid half, with the opposition playing good attacking rugby, and deserving their win. With the rain now horizontal, thoughts turned to apple bobbing, the sight of Sam’s father in shorts and t-shirt bringing home to one and all that Halloween was definitely upon us.

This was a good effort today with everyone contributing and some promising performances. Both games highlighted areas to work on - but also showed the rewards of the effort and commitment put in to training.
We’re at Ampthill next weekend and there should be ample opportunity for everyone to build on their experience.

Thanks to Chris for again providing referee services and to ‘Mike the scribe’.

Player of the week: George (“Habana”)

Don’t forget mid-week training on Wednesday, 6.30 – 7.30 pm.