Stockwood Park 22 Hitchin 39

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On a miserable, windy and exposed ground we took to the pitch against what was predicted to be an improved Stockwood Park side. Certainly for the first few minutes they managed to contain our lads, with much of the game made up of midfield interplay with possession changing hands regularly, mainly due to some poor handling.

However Hitchin performed well under pressure and managed to clear well to the halfway line. From a good throw in from Sandro to the back of the line we managed to shift the ball quickly to the half backs and beyond, releasing Sammy wide to run in for his first club try from 40 metres! Jordan converted to make the score 0:7

Stockwood kicked off and unfortunately Hitchin knocked on to give them a scrum around our 22. Stockwood kept possession well from the scrum and managed to get all the way to our 5 m line, but thankfully we cleared well to give them an attacking scrum, outside our 22. However from the line out they drove again well and worked the phases to our try line again and having sucked in our defenders they managed to create space on the blindside to run over a simple try 5:7

Not to be deterred, straight from the kick off we countered again, with some good forward movement, which created the space for Billy to break and make it very close to their line. From a solid 5 m scrum, Max had the confidence to pick up from number 8, but was bundled into touch by their back row. However loose play in the resulting Stockwood lineout, allowed Callum T to steal the ball and rush their line to score from close quarters. 5:12

Counter-attacking was certainly the order of the day for both sides; as yet again from the kick-off Hitchin returned the ball in hand, with another great run from Billy into their midfield. Even after a knock on in the tackle and a scrum against us we managed to wrestle back possession and move the ball wide quickly again, giving Sammy more space on the wing and creating a good angle for Kieran Caldwell to pick the ball at pace and step inside and score. Again Jordan converted to give us a comfortable half time lead of 5:19

Nothing quite prepared us though for a taste of our own counter attacking skills, straight from the re start by a rejuvenated Stockwood team.
Within a matter of ten minutes, mainly as a result of strong running and poor tackling by us, they managed to score 3 tries, directly from each kick off, taking the score to a very uncomfortable 22:19

Thankfully though our boys managed to restore some calm to our side of the game and through controlled play managed to work their way up to their 5 m line, where in an untidy Stockwood scrum, Callum T wrestled the loose ball away and worked it to Charlie for a strong drive over the line 22:24
Once confidence had been regained there was no doubt in the end result, but to our boys credit they did it with some style. Again after a good counter we managed a good period of camping out on their line and even after a sustained period of pressure which Stockwood did well to contain and clear briefly to their 22 we did well to persist and get Adam Baird away almost to the line, where Philip popped up to run over for his try in the corner 22:29

Immediately the same level of control worked us into their half and after a great pick up by Charlie he managed to bombard his way through what seemed like their entire team to score. 22:34
More of the same followed, with some terrific forward play, particularly in the hands of Edwin and Stefan, allowing quick ball again to go through all the hands in the backs and get Kieran C running at speed to Jordan who delivered a great pop ball for Billy to score in the corner.

In the end a comfortable win, the attacking element of our game was again our saving grace. I sense some tackling practice again lads on Wednesday night!!

Final Score 22:39