So my last game for the Hitchin Hedgehogs as Captain turns out to be a County Plate Final and we win it in fine style with a lot of good Rugby from both teams and I could not have asked for more! The team was a genuine mix of players who have come down the teams in their later years and others who have never really aspired to play at a higher level but enjoy a good run out with their mates.
We started the game at 100 miles an hour and the fact that Chris Lavallee had 3 tries by half time demonstrates the dominance we enjoyed in the early stages of the match with the forwards hitting the rucks and mauls with a fair bit of ferocity and the backs putting some slick moves together. The set pieces were fairly even with neither side giving much ground in the scrum and the line outs being evenly contested with both sides winning on their own throw. Dermot Coughlan playing what could possibly be his last game due to the knee's finally giving out had another great game scoring a fine try and giving good support play throughout.
The Hampstead side were generally younger and fitter than most of the Hogs so having a good lead by half time was essential as we knew they would be harder to handle once we tired and this almost proved our undoing as in the second half they came back at us scoring some good tries and in this period of the game it was Jimmy Scott who saved the day with some crunching tackles . Luckily we had not run out of ideas even if our energy levels were low and when the opportunities came we exploited them to the full with more tries by Paul Morris, Dale Baines and Mark Turner but it was nip and tuck until the last few minutes when we had a lineout in the Hampstead half with 6 minutes left on the clock and only 4 points in front despite all the hard work. The lineout ball ended up in the hookers hands and was swiftly moved to Nick Swanson at Scrum Half who started a move that ended up with Kevin Lok on the opposite wing who, for reasons known only to himself ,then cut inside instead of going for the corner. He went into contact in the middle of the field and then after the ball was taken on by the forwards he popped up to take the ball over the line from very short range which effectively finished the game much to the relief of the players and the supporters who had their hearts in their mouths for the last quarter of the match.
There was a great deal of joy when the final whistle went and both sides had a game to remember with ferocious commitment by all concerned. The Ref had a very good game and contributed to the enjoyment of the match immensely being firm and fair with most of his decisions. Big games were had by a lot of the Hogs but none more so than Jimmy Scott whose skill, speed and quick thinking had a profound effect on the result of this game and made him a worthy man of the match
.GARY HAWTIN
Team Kevin Edwards, Gary Hawtin, John Pines, Simon Goodlad, Gary Wearing, Mark Gibson, Steven Condie, Dave Turner, Nick Swanson, Mark Turner, Christopher Lavallee, Dale Baines, Jimmy Scott, Dermot Coughlan, Paul Morris
Subs Mark Tidey, Aaron Johnson, Deon Marevich, Kevin Lok
Scores T: Christopher Lavallee (3), Kevin Lok (1), Dale Baines (1), Mark Turner (1), Paul Morris (1), Dermot Coughlan (1)
C: Nick Swanson (1)
Player(s) of Match 1. Jimmy Scott, 2. Gary Hawtin, 3. Christopher Lavallee