Hitchin u17 53 v Barnet u17 10

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Having not played for a few weeks the U17’s were keen to get back on track. Last time we played Barnet the conditions were wet and windy but still managed a healthy score.

Christie turned an ankle just before kick off but would not be rested, he started with George on the bench. Barnet kicked off and Daniel made a good take. Hitchin were awarded a penalty and Tom M tapped to take it quickly. Good go forward play by Hitchin sees the ball moved to Ben on the wing. Ben comes within a few feet of taking an early try. From a Barnet line out Hitchin forced a mistake from the Barnet 2 jumper. The ball fly’s forward to Callum, who kicks the ball into the hands of Steve at fly half, Steve ships the ball to Will A and then Dave who scores the opening try. Great thinking from Callum.
7 – 0
Strong rush defence from Will A forced an error by the Barnet back line, Dave pounces on the ball and ships it to Steve who feeds Luke who rides one tackle and scores a good try in the corner.
12 – 0
Christie then saves a certain try by tracking back and tackling the Barnet winger. Christie puts his body in the way causing the Barnet player to be 3 inches short of the line. Hitchin then absorb some pressure from Barnet and some simple errors make Hitchin fight hard to get out of their 22. Barnet are awarded a penalty on the 22, they miss. Will J is then called back for a forward pass as he hits off Steve’s shoulder, Will J was going all the way for a superb try..
Hitchin’s scum is working well, Callum wins ball against the head and Duane pounces on the ball as it slips out of channel 1 (between blindside flanker and second row). Duane breaks two tackles and hits the ground 2 metres short. He does very well to pop the ball up to Daniel, ever present in support, Daniel scores the try.
19 – 0
Barnet are working hard in the rucks and mauls and there are bodies and hands all over the place from both sides. Tom is being placed under a lot of pressure by the Barnet 9 and he is regularly being pulled back and interfered with, this is leading to slow ball for Steve.
Barnet then capitalised on numerous Hitchin errors. Steve was first put under pressure in his own dead ball area and the following scrum led to a Barnet try. Poor tackling and some bad communication leading to the try.
19 – 5
Good hands through the backs made the next try. The ball was worked to the right and everyone in the line was having to drift due to the attack coming up at an angle. Dave hit the line at pace, straightened and glided in for his second try.
24 – 5
Duane scores his second with a powerful run. Reggie cleans up some scrappy ball on the floor and feeds Duane who runs for the line as if he was falling off a cliff. Duane smashes through two tacklers and leaves the Barnet hooker to count sheep as he comes too. (all credit to the hooker he is up and carries on)
31 - 5
Hitchin give away numerous penalties and find themselves on their line with Barnet awarded another penalty. As the ref is talking to Barnet, their flanker takes a quick tap, Joe sees this and leaves his line at speed. He hits the Barnet player who after he tapped had second thoughts. Joe is unlucky to get yellow carded but takes it like a man and waits for his return.
Barnet keep up the pressure after the carding and score under the posts.
31 - 10
George is on for Christie and makes an immediate impact, he works well with Robbie and Callum in the clearing the rucks. Hitchin work their way towards the Barnet line. Josh got the ball in hand with a wall of Barnet players in front of him. He tucks the ball under his arm and smashes into the defence. He twists and turns to score a great try that displayed just how strong he is.
38 – 10 Steve hits a superb conversion and then blows a kiss to his Dad (made me sick!!)
Ben then scores the next try after some great number 8 play from George. George goes blind and draws two defenders. Ben takes the ball and faints to go on the outside, he steps in and scores.
43 – 10
David marks his hat-trick with a display of pace. He takes the ball on the 22 and decides to burn the rest of the Barnet defence on the outside. There is no substitute for it !!!
48 – 10
The final score came from Daniel, scoring his second of the day, a good lineout saw the ball worked to Daniel who drove over for the try.

Final score 53 – 10.

A game that saw many penalties, the majority against Hitchin for silly mistakes at the breakdown. If the U17’s had stuck to the game plan there would have been many more trys. A good strong performance by everyone on the pitch led to a healthy final score. Callum was man of the match for his work rate and superb hooking in the scrum.