Hitchin 29 Teddington 0 (Herts/Middx League 2)

« Fixture Change Sat 8 Dec | Main | U9 Away at Bedford »

from your local correspondent Ray Suitters

Don’t forget to sell your draw tickets and return money and stubs before the 16th of December – your club needs you!

I apologise from the start about this soccer analogy, but Sunday morning certainly saw a game of two halves! And showed the best sides of our game and how we have grown.

Ten minutes of fast and furious attack from the kick off killed the game for Teddington and then 10 mins of stalwart defence left us with a great win and a clean sheet.

On the subject of our glorious start, straight from kick off, Teddington returned the ball to the half way line. However from the central scrum we did what comes naturally and spun the ball towards the wing and created space for Kieran C to step back in and swing the ball back towards the other wing, stretching the opposition defence and giving Callum Mac the chance to dance over their line from 10m. 5:0

Immediately from their kick off and even after knocking on that return, we won the scrum against the head and split their backline through sheer pace to release Samie to run in from the 22 yd line. Kieran conversion 12:0

Just to add insult to injury and still within the first ten minutes, Teddington made the fatal error of kicking off straight to Callum T, who promptly waltzed his way through their entire team from his own half to score under the posts for a superb solo try. Again Kieran converted to make the score 19:0. The score remained the same until half time even though both Billy and Samie had great efforts on either wing thwarted at the last moment on the line. Terrific pressure by Hitchin but a good resolve and defence from the opposition equalled one another out. Our first half was an excellent example of fast and flowing rugby, trying to get the ball wide to the space at every opportunity.

Even more pleasing was the consistency of our re start in the second half. Just in case Teddington had any idea’s about making a come back we swiftly despatched another ten minute power play of intense pressure, taking the ball close to their line over several sequences of play, only to be held up again by a stern defence. Eventually though we got the scrum platform right and gave Callum T the chance to pick up at 8 and drive over the line for his second score of the day. 24:0. Not having learnt their lesson from the first half, Teddington kick off again straight to Callum who with the support from the forwards got as far as their 22 only to be stopped by a high tackle. The quickly taken penalty allowed us to swing the ball wide again and for Kieran to step in from the wing to score his second of the day too. 29:0

And then for some reason Teddington decided to wake up, take the game to us and test our resolve in defence! It was probably just as pleasing for us old dears on the side line to see how our boys reacted. Great tackling and awareness, consistently pushing Teddington back over the gain line and withheld 15 mins of pure pressure mostly in our own 22. Perhaps a year ago we might have buckled and eventually given in, but now we don’t. Instead we keep a clean sheet, get the extra point from the 4th try and show the opposition we are not a push over. It’s a credit to you!

Great game and a pleasure to watch even though we were all soaked to the skin.