Stockwood U13s 0 – Hitchin U13s 39

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Hitchin U13s recorded a morale boosting first win of the season at a cold and wind swept Stockwood Park

Receiving kick-off Hitchin took the game to their opponents and rucked strongly to produce quick ball that allowed the backs to get to within 10 yards of the line on second phase. Strong support allowed Brendan to pick and go and drive past 2 defenders to score in the corner. A welcome departure from the usual slow start Hitchin U13s have become known for.

Hitchin scored 2 more tries during the first half, both from Ben playing at inside centre and making the most of the quality ball provided by the forwards. Stockwood began to get their feet and their tackling noticeable improved, however the conditions contributed to several handling errors by both teams.

The team had a mix around in the second half with some of our front row moving to the 2nd row and No 8 for a new experience and 2nd rows moving to gain some Propping experience. The scrum was hardly affected and effective counter rucking gave Connor W the space to outstrip the defence from outside centre for a score under the post converted by Ben who soon after ran in his 3rd try of the afternoon which he duly converted. The team then weathered a sustained attack by the big Stockwood pack, which managed to get the ball over the line but were held up.

Next was a treat, Ryan got the ball on the half way line at pace and went on a quite wonderful run beating at least 6 defenders to score a memorable try. The remainder of the match saw sustained Hitchin pressure which seemed to have paid off when David went in at the corner and headed for the posts, unfortunately cold hands caused him to fumble the ball as he went to put it down. Fortunately Hitchin were able to win the resulting scrum and fast hands allowed David to save his blushes with a try in the corner.

Players
Nathan – Usual excellent scrummaging, enjoyed a run at No. 8 where he was able to get to the breakdown early and impose his strength
Richard – Solid Hooker performance, a go at second row and couple of good runs
Michael – Played at Prop, Hooker and Second Row and acquitted himself well, much improved at the lineout
Tom DS – Did a solid job at loose head in the second half in a new combination with Michael and Sam
Patrick – Good quick passing from the quick ball provided by the forwards and some snipping run, played the second half at flanker to get lots of tackling practice
Brendan – Another good run out at Flanker, scored a dynamic early try, that would have been my pick of the day if Ryan hadn’t had a flash of inspiration
David O – Got more ball, took it at pace and backed himself around the outside for a well deserved try (and a half!)
Tom B – Support play was appreciated by the coaches as he put himself in good attaching positions, where he was unfortunate not to receive the ball
Ryan – Provided substantial grunt in the 2nd row and power and pace on the wing, scored a very good try that left him wheezing from his cold and forced him off for the rest of the game.
Connor W – Again worked hard the entire game and scored another long range try when in the centres
Connor C – Impressive tackling from the Birthday Boy, almost in for a try until cold hands caused a fumble as the ball was about to get to him, impressive second half run-out at Scrum-half
Sam M – Played at Full-back, Flanker and Fly-half and was again assured on the ball
David G – Usual high standard of scrummaging had his opposite number in trouble from the off, some good driving runs in the tight and came off the pitch with the most impressive set of stud marks on his leg that I’ve seen in a long time!
Ben – Revelled in the amount of ball won by the forwards and capitalised on his chances to score 3 tries. Much improved kicking out of the hand.
Sam C – Another solid performance at No. 8 and Tight-head, swapping with Nathan, good tackling
Cieran – As usual ran his heart out tackling and rucking, unfortunately a heavy cold meant that he was worn out after 15 minutes and had to sit out the rest of the game
Peter – Captain for the match, controlled the Backs releasing the ball intelligently, also set the standards for the defence in the backs.

Good points – It was good to see the lessons from the last couple of weeks training being applied in the match, the rucking was much improved and the backs tried to move the ball wide which combined with runs from much greater depth lead to more penetration and tries.

Areas to work on – More of the same, the improvements are starting to show.

Man of the Match – The best comment of the day was from Nathan “I enjoyed that, we played as a team”. Long may it continue.

Many thanks to Stockwood Park who never stopped trying, were gracious in defeat and whose coach refereed the match very well.

Next week is Cheshunt at Home, we hopefully will have Joseph back from his concussion and Jem back with a functioning hand, it will also be the first Match using the new shirts.