U12s v OAs & Watford

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A mixed day – some good rugby against the weaker opposition but a reality check against OA’s A team and it’s this we should measure ourselves against.

Hitchin v Old Albanians Won 42 - 14
Tries: Joe R-G, George, Mitchell, Euan (3). Conv: George (6)

1st Half

Hitchin kicked off and good following up allowed us to win the first maul, Bryony ripping the ball clear to feed Joe R-G who made good ground to open the scoring. George converted, and proved to have the kicking boots on as he gained the extra two points following each of the Hitchin tries. The early scrums saw Hitchin establish a dominance in the scrum that went unchallenged with the front row of Michael, Bryony and William showing great technique, benefiting from the work on the scrum machine at training. From good scrum ball Bobby fed Mitchell who, with ball tucked firmly under one arm, weaved through to score the second try.

The stream of ball allowed the backs plenty of options, Hannah taking in the ball and releasing to George to take it on. A quick ruck ball set Euan off to cut in to open his account, on the way to a hat trick of tries, the second of which was set up by Henry’s stylish chip ahead. The half ended with a passage of weak Hitchin tackling to allow OA’s to score before half term, at which point the score was 28 – 7.

2nd Half

OA’s moved their players around resulting in a much closer contest, with OA’s opening the scoring after a great drive which once again showed up a lack of technique in the tackle. It was inevitable that Euan should then complete his rash of scoring with a superb solo effort, roundly applauded by both sets of supporters. There then followed a great passage of play for Hitchin, backs and forwards involved, with William, Michael and Ashley seeing the ball and ultimately freeing up George to score the five points. The half ended with Hitchin again leading the scoring 14 – 7.

Hitchin v Old Albanians Lost 0 – 35

Bit of an odd one this with a mix up between the opposing teams’ coaches resulting in OA’s putting out a what was obviously a full strength side against our development squad, which included a couple of recent recruits. A baptism of sorts with OA’s greater strength at ruck and scrum securing the ball almost at will and closing out the game shortly after half time when the points difference became too great.

Despite OA's obvious superiority and good direct play, there were some positives for Hitchin: good skill and pace was shown by Jonathan on the wing, and things can only improve for Tom who adds considerably to our height in the pack. Good tackling and a couple of nifty runs by Joe Page demonstrated his versatility, and the likes of Adrian, Reece and Erik never stopped giving their all.

Nevertheless, a bit of a hiding leaving us with plenty to work on and a standard of play to aspire to.

Hitchin v Watford Won 35 – 0
Tries: Michael, Bryony, Bobby, George, Adrian. Conv: George (3) Mitchell, Hannah

Our final game was a bit of a moral booster against a Watford squad clearly a tad under strength. Good inter-passing and support play resulted in tries for both forwards and backs in another game that was brought to an early close after the mandatory points difference had been reached.

Player of the week: Bryony