Colts 19 - Tring 17

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Colts 19 - Tring 17 - What a match!!

COLTS : HITCHIN 19 TRING 17 (Herts/Middx League)
What a result! Some fabulous rugby to watch – you had every spectator on a knife edge at the end!! A really exciting game and I do rather think you took Tring by surprise! I love surprises!!!
It was good to see how visibly the Colts relaxed as they realised what tremendous support they had from the U17s – not only in rugby ability but even down to the basics of numbers. To field a team without any difficulty boosted confidence immediately and it was noticeable right from the start.
Quote from one Tring player “This should be easy” . Don’t think it was!!!
Hitchin went on the attack straight away with some excellent runs, some hard hitting tackles and some real spirit! Good solid play by the forwards, resulted in a well-deserved first try of the game for Joe Lockyer, converted by Christie Caldwell. 7 - 0
Tring obviously believed this was a lucky break …. But it put them on edge somewhat. They raised their game immediately and came back with some really good class attacking play, with some fabulous switch manoeuvres from the backs. Hitchin’s defence was solid and the game rolled between the two halves, with the teams pretty evenly matched. However, Tring’s persistence won and they managed to break through the Hitchin defence and score, duly converted. 7 – 7
Hitchin rose to the bait and raised their game again, the pressure was on once more. Tring obviously hadn’t expected to have to put up such a fight – and fight they had to. Hitchin dug in hard and produced some fabulous rugby that saw them attacking once more with a lovely try in the corner from Christie Caldwell. There was a very proud “that’s my boy!” from Jon Caldwell at that point! 12 - 7
At this point Tring began to look a bit worried – they really hadn’t expected to work quite so hard! Hitchin though kept their heads down and kept up the good work, constantly pressing hard for the try line. Excellent line out work (Bushy Boy IS King of the Line-out!), really solid scrummage work and lovely play by the backs resulted in a smashing try from Nuts – well done James! – again superbly converted by Christie. 19 – 7
At this point Tring hit back hard, a confident team with some excellent skills, Hitchin did well to meet them in defence but the pressure told and Tring broke through to score a nifty little try in the corner. 19 – 12
By now we had Mr. Caldwell who’d blown a gasket; Joe Duignam looking totally harassed making sure he’d got everyone he could on the pitch – fantastic job Joe - and Jim was Jim … totally supportive. Amos’ comments to the team from the sidelines had been greeted by the Quote of the Week from Duane … “You can always come on and play Dad”! Priceless! The build up of excitement was incredible. Tim (El Presidente) was pacing the line. Could Hitchin pull this off? They certainly deserved to. I was beginning to feel decidedly sick and my heart was pounding, Ms. Thorpe couldn’t stand the pressure and was last seen hiding behind the slide and the spectators were decidedly agog with excitement!!!
Once again Tring piled on the pressure. There was some lovely rugby to watch lads! Try saving tackles, some wicked kicking, some lovely zesty runs from both sides. Tring were not going to go down without a fight and boy did they fight! The result? Another nifty little try in the corner – it was all down to the conversion…………………. Total silence. Missed!!!!!!
Final score: 19 – 17
What a game! What a result! Lads you know how to entertain!! You did yourselves proud today.
Man of the Match: Joe Lockyer – well deserved! Excellent play!
I haven’t mentioned you all by name because it would just look like a team list. You ALL played some brilliant rugby and looked like a team that had played together all season. FANTASTIC!! What a future for the Colts!
A huge thank you to Joe and Jim for their work, direction and support – Jim for a motivational warm-up and to Joe for getting as many players as possible a game and for looking after my boys!!!
Deb xx