Chess Valley and Ampthill at Home

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A’s and B’s win and lose one each.

Well if Havant and Waterlooville can give Liverpool a scare, then anything is possible. Chess Valley were the original fixture, but Tony used his not inconsiderable organisational skills to get Ampthill along too. As it happened, Chess were a much stronger squad than seen before and brought 2 teams along. Your reporter was slightly later than usual ( long story- Ask Colin McG!) and he struggled to get a reporter for the 1st A game, so thanks to Trevor for doing this as well as his coaching.

HITCHIN A 4 V 1 AMPTHILL WON
Christian 2, Ollie P, Oli red
HITCHIN
Christian , Oliver P, Daniel , Aless , Jack (capt), Frazer , Oliver ("red") , Ashley, Andrew, Sam C and Connor.

Tonys crunch game of the day started well with Hitchin making some good deep attacks into the Amp's half with Christian leading the way with good support from Daniel and Ollie P. As the half continued Hitchin also defended brilliantly, pressing Amp's all the time into making loads of mistakes, and the Hitchin tackling was excellent throughout the whole team. Hitchin's first score came from a penalty, Aless threw a long pass to Christian who then powered his way through the Amps defence to score. Hitchin again had to defend but stole the ball at a maul , Aless found Oli Red who weaved his way through the Amps only to be stopped short of the line ,but good support from Ollie P meant he was able to pick up the loose ball and drive over to score . H.T. 2.0 Hitchin.

Connor came on for Andrew in the second half and play carried on as in the first half with Hitchin doing all the basics well. Aless controlled the fowards well and they drove Amps back the whole game, Ollie P took all the put-ins at the scrum and with all this possession Jack was able to distribute the ball wide to his backs with confidence. This led to Connor making an excellent run down the wing. Alas he was stopped just short of the Amp's try line . At the lineout, Christian took their ball and charged through to score his second try of the game. Frazer and Ashley led the way in defence with some great tackles, as Amp's again attacked the Hitchin line in numbers. Hard work from the fowards again resulted in good turn over ball, the ball coming to Oli red in our half who set off on a majestic run through the whole of the Amps team to score a great try.
Amps where rewarded for never giving up when one of their fowards rolled out of a maul and sprinted up the touch line to score a late try.

F.T. 4.1 Hitchin

A great performance from the whole team, they played as a TEAM.

B Team Squad
Aaron, Bradley, George, Maitiu, Oliver (OJ) Taylor, Toby, Tom, William (J!), Sam J.

Game 1 Hitchin 1 v 3 Chess Valley A Lost
Bradley.
Bradley scored our first and only try after an over-complicated build up. Good individual skills from many, but still lacking the team rucking and passing that we need to develop. Tom took the ball out of defence well, but poor tackling lead to the first CV score. 1-1 at HT. CV reduced themselves to 8 players for a while, having pulled a player off by mistake. CV were getting up a head of steam, but good defence repelled them until a breakaway made it 1-2. Toby made a good tackle but some over-generosity with the ball on the ground, meant another breakaway occurred, 1-3. Tom and William (J) pressed well on their line but could not force another score. Nice sympathetic reffing from the CV ref, in the absence of our Colin.

Game 2 Hitchin A 0 v 1 Chess Valley Lost
Frazer was on good form at the start, but poor defence let CV in for the only score of the match. This try was a break from well within their own half and should have been stopped. Oliver M made up for things by tackling well but we were down 0-1 at HT.
Jack started to take the ball well at pace, but the ball was being lost at rucks, meaning we could not build phases. He was also putting in some desperate shirt-scragging tackles, stopping the CV increasing their lead. Daniel and Ollie P showed good teamwork, with some neat interpassing and Sam C got into the game with a cover tackle. The strong CV forwards were pressing hard, but we held them out to make it 0-1 at the end.

Game 2 Hitchin B 5 v 1 Chess Valley B WON
Taylor 2, George 2, William (J)
A good win by the B’s, with Toby missing (going off to Saracens v Bath). William (J) scored straight from the start. Tom ran strongly, but was forced into touch. CV have a definite game plan to touch the ball down, in goal, when in need of relief. Their strong scrum would often give them good possession to work up field. Something to consider here for us? TAYLOR scored his first of the season (? Colin, dig your stats out) after good driving. Sam J stole the ball audaciously, but problems persisted when the ball is on the floor, with not enough urgency from any players. Bradley continued his Ashley impression, with mazy running, but was guilty of coughing up the ball a number of times. More confident movement of the ball down the line, must be gained, for us to threaten defences. George ran really well, to make it 3-0 at HT . CV took a leaf out of our book, to score direct form the start, with a lack of tackling evident. Good harassment of the Chessmen (and woman) kept them out for the rest of the game, with George breaking off a scrum for his 2nd and Taylor, having worried us all with an old fashioned run the wrong way down the pitch, straightening to gain a good position. He scored from the subsequent play. Maitiu made good run, but a brave tackle on our biggest (?) player stopped him in his tracks.

Some good moments from both sides, but as ever, lots to work on in training. It was a shame the Bs did not get a chance against Ampthill, as they played Chess Valley too. Coaches Tony and Nick, being modest to the extreme, were struggling for players of the week, but I had no hesitation in suggesting Jack (As) and George (Bs), their offspring, as the best contenders.

A message from Tony:
You do listen at times! The team talk worked! All I said was I was intending to have as beer with Ampthill coaches in the afternoon and that I really wanted to take a win to the pub. Play as well as you all can and put your bodies on the line. Play the best you have ever played and if injured, I'll replace you. Just DON'T LOSE.Well, what can I say - you did me proud. 4 - 1. BRILLIANT against the best local team in the country / world! I am very proud of you as well as grateful for an enjoyable afternoon in the pub with the opposition. Oliver won every scrum (from memory) helped by Christian and Daniel, The rucking was just great, Aless collected and delivered ball well, Jack's miss- pass out to the wide made two tries, Frazer with his darting runs and wonderful tackles, Oliver, through seven missed tackles was an eyeful and of course Ashley and his last -ditch tackles was as ever just fantastic.Conner got into the act with some good effort, as did Sam and Andrew who made a try saving tackle. As coach the player of the day was difficult especially when they all played so well, however even more difficult coz he is my boy, Jack took centre stage for the running onto the ball attaches and powerful forward running. He captained well and gained a lot of game line. Just hope it continues. And the B team, what can I say - Tom as ever ripping ball and darting runs, Toby! what tackles, yes you did make some - fantastic try saving ones too. George - what can I say, nothing keeps you quiet- two sneaky tries.Oliver glasses - didn't miss a tackle, Big Sam, what drives and forward runs. Taylor, say no more, committed today, Russell, still learning to throw straight but went in well. Great team display, with one very proud coach / dad. Both teams, all players. One more thing - ODD SHAPED BALL. Believe me its a relaxed, brilliantnight out. Join, Trev, Nick, and Jim, (yes Jim!), for a night to remember, or perhaps not! Sorry I'm not there but I'm supporting Helen in the Barcelona Marathon that weekend, albeit from a bar I expect. GO FOR IT, its acracking night out and raises money for the junior section of the club. We need it. See you all next week. Tony Wuidart