Pillage on a Sunday morning.

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Hitchin U10s at Datchworth for the Morris Trophy.
(Datchworth/Hitchin/Welwyn.)

Game 1
Saxons squad- Aless, Christian, Daniel, Frazer, Ollie P, Olli Red, Sam C, Taylor, Tom, Will J
Datchworth 2 V 0 Hitchin

Bright, breezy and chilly up the hill on the second pitches. Tony not with us, as he’s nursing a hangover in Paris (I guess, as England just won there last night. He’s a bit of a lucky mascot, having also been at the RWC win) Colin chooses wisely to play one, rest one and we opt to field 2 different teams against the opposition. Games against Datch are always close, usually being settled by 1 or 2 scores.
The D player makes a very strong run from the off, using the hill to great effect. We manage to get him to touch. A D replacement says “They’re all tiny!” (or is it the slope that makes it look that way?) Another strong run makes it 1-0. Tom struggled with a shoe-lace as D mounted an attack “Forget the ****** lace” say I, forgetting the parents code. Frazer makes a strong run, as we start to gain parity 1-0 at HT. Olli Red makes a copycat run down the hill at the restart and we mount some good pressure. The (neutral) ref unfortunately gets in the way of a good attack which breaks down. Our scrum is creaking now and we are unable to secure our own put ins. A player breaks free..and it’s 2-0 at the close. Our passing was not crisp enough to gain any real advantage. I believe Welwyn then beat Datch 3-0, which sounded a warning for the Vikings.

Game 2Vikings- Aaron, Ashley, Ben, Bradley, George, Jack, OJ, Max, Maitiu, Toby.

Hitchin 0 v 11 Welwyn
Perhaps in hindsight, we should have played the Saxons against Welwyn, but would they have kept the score down much lower? Probably not. To be fair, these W players do now train mid-week and this could explain their superb ability to pass the ball at pace, over quite amazing length and accuracy. Their beefiest player, Oliver, is a French Horn student of mine, and he was the architect of much of their strong forward work and tackling. Must remember to give him a hard time in his lesson next week!
The passing and strength combo, even put OAs performance last week in the shade. We struggled bravely, but had no answer to their play down the hill. 0-6 at HT. Will J’s mum had it right when she said “We’re going down-hill now” as a further 5 tries were scored in the 2nd half. We even turned to watch the rugby/football playing dog perform his antics. Who is he registered for, we wondered? Colin engaged in a friendly chat about re-starts with the Welwyn coach. (later having his beliefs confirmed, that the opposition can only advance ON the first pass, not on the whistle.) They were certainly pressing very early. OJ put in a great tackle, but it was one way traffic. We failed to clear from a scrum and were punished. The players kept on trying, to their credit, till the (over –due?) final whistle. Had this been played to other rules, it could have been called off at 5 tries ahead, but here, the total tries scored, count towards the final winner. All teams’ tries are added, with the winner being the team scoring the most.
I understand Welwyn won the trophy, with Hitchin 2nd.

Datchworth 1 v 3 Hitchin Mixed

A training game followed, with, at last, a try and a win. We played most of the Vikings in the 1st half and the Saxons in the 2nd. Busy D play made it 1-0 before Ashley went over, to a huge roar from the Hitchin faithful. Full dues to those parents who cheer on both teams, regardless of family links and also the players who did the same. Christian was particularly loud today. Also the coaches, who endure all manner of problems with good grace. Sorry if I let you down! Jack made a good contribution for 1-1 at HT. Enter the Saxons, down the hill. Tom was up for this one and “put himself about a bit”, with some destructive tackling. Maitiu made a good run, but lost the ball. Ollie P drove well, but we were losing out with the ball on the floor. OJ tried to gain his £10 bribe to score, (don’t get ideas any of you) Max tackled with fury, but George sealed a win, with 2 well taken tries from the base of the scrum (been watching Wiggleworth?)
Much to do, as ever next week, in preparation for Leighton Buzzard, the following week.