HITCHIN JAGUARS v AMPTHILL ‘B’ Lost 10-15
The lack of focus and concentration which were apparent during the warm up manifested themselves in the first 5 minutes of the opening game as the Jags went down 0-5 very quickly. Lack of intensity and some very poor defending were to blame. In typical Jags style the switch was flicked and all of a sudden the Jags were at the races. The tackles started to come in led by Sam H, Freddie and Tom which held up the Ampthill onslaught. The forwards of Henry, Stevie and Alfie started to compete which allowed Freddie to have a few snipes around the fringes to test out the Ampthill defence. The Jags started to get a little more possession and the ball was moved through the hands to the midfield. Harry H and Daniel had a couple of runs however Ampthill were strong in defence. The game was finely balanced when Ampthill broke through. Great defence from the Jags held them up short and some aggressive rucking by Henry combined with good support from Stevie and Alfie secured the ball for the Jags. Freddie pick up and made a few yards before getting the pass away to Sam H. Sam ran the ball forward before getting the pass away to Harry H who continued the Jags breakout. Unfortunately Harry was snagged and the whistle went for half time. One change was made with Stevie making way for Sid. The game continued with the same intensity however within minutes the Jags had conceded due to some lack lustre tacking 0-10. Harry H rallied the Jags and they came straight back with a rampaging run from Sid .Sid was stopped just short of the line and Ampthill were awarded the scrum A huge shove from the Jags coupled with a sweet hook form Henry saw Freddie pounced on his opportunity to score 5-10. Ampthill came straight back and scored a quick try as the Jags failed to get organised following their first try 5-15. The Jags did not give up and some good runs form Harry H and Dan nearly broke the defence. Sid crashed through however he overran the try line and the dead ball line!!.The Jags started to get on top and the forwards rumbled up the field close to the Ampthill line . The ball went loose and Laurence pounced on the ball to score a fine opportunistic try right on the full time whistle 10-15.
HITCHIN JAGUARS v AMPTHILL ‘C’ Won 35-5
A slightly changed team lined up for the second game. Sid, Harry G and Stevie stared up front with Freddie and Sam H 9 and 10. Daniel and Oskar in the centre with Tom and Chris on the wings .Sid scored from the start as he crashed through to open up the account 5-0. Harry and Stevie competed well with the large Ampthill forwards and gave a good platform for the backs to open up with ball in hand. Freddie had a number of good breaks supported well by Sam, Dan and Tom. The second score came from a great run out of defence from Sam H who surprised himself by running 3 quarters of the length of the pitch before popping a pass to Freddie who was on hand to score from close range to make it 10-0. Sid then ran in a couple more tries before half time as Ampthill found him very hard to stop. Ampthill grabbed a score and it could have been more if not for some good defence by Tom, Oskar Sam and Freddie 20-5. Chris had a couple of runs and carried the ball strongly. The scrum functioned well and the Jags held their own against some beefy Ampthill forwards. The second half started with a great individual try from Dan 25-5. Tom took a breather and Laurence came in on the wing and immediately went looking for work. The jags were on the ascendency as the forwards took control of the loose and started hitting the breakdowns early. Stevie, always quick to the breakdowns pounced on a loose ball before offloading to Freddie who scored for 30-5. Daniel scored again from an attacking scrum. The scrum was won and Freddie passed to Sam H who went to the short side before cutting back drawing the defence and putting Daniel away with a well-timed pass to score. The game finished 35-5 in favour of the Jags.
HITCHIN JAGUARS v AMPTHILL ‘B/C’ Won 25-5
Following a defeat in the previous match Ampthill reinforced their C team with a few key players from their B side. The Jags keen to close out the morning on top started well. The forwards looked a powerful outfit with Henry Sid and Alfie on. Freddie and Sam continued to play at 9,10 with Harry H and Tom in the centre with Laurence and Chris on the wing. The Jags struck first with a rampaging run by Sid. He was brought down by a good tackle but Henry and Stevie were on hand to win the contact. This presented a perfect ball for Freddie to pick up and score in the corner 5-0. The second was following a good passage of play by the Jags rucking well and moving the ball quickly form the contact areas. Sam H picked up a pass from Freddie to score 10-0. Ampthill came back with a try of their own to make it 10-5. The entire team played like a unit with everyone defending valiantly. Laurence playing like an extra forward hit a stagnant ruck with such force that it got the Jags moving again thus wining the put in to the scrum. Harry H had a good few runs and from some good interplay by the backs Harry H picked up a loose ball before getting the pass away for Freddie to score in the corner 15-5. Following a good hook form Henry Freddie move the ball quickly to Sam H who made a good break drawing the covering defence before getting the pass away to Harry H who scored just before half time to make it 20-5 at the break. The second half was much of the same with Harry G Stevie and Oskar joining for the last half. Ampthill pushed hard to close the gaps and the Jags tackled like demons to keep them out. Oskar put in a few big hits and Freddie and Sam H continued to tackle well in the 9, 10 channel. Finally Laurence got his reward for all his hard work as he closed out the match with a good try and a fine win 25-5 to end the morning.
Despite a typical slow start, the Jags rallied to finish with 2 wins out of 3 games. Credit must go to all the players. The untried 9-10 combination with Freddie moving in to scrum half and Sam H to fly half looked a good well balanced option. They attacked and defended well often dropping into each other’s position to offer cover. The forwards competed well and once they got going were a difficult unit to stop. The scrum was very solid and they won a couple against the head. Chris had another good game on the wing defending and attacking well. Oskar and Tom played well but did not have too many opportunities to attack today. Harry H and Daniel played well in the centre and they are now starting to look for players around them rather than trying to do everything themselves. Harry G and Henry played well in the set piece and in the loose. Stevie was quick to the breakdown and picked up a couple of loose balls which gave chances to attack. Sid and Alfie ran some hard yards. Both players looked extremely hard to stop and were rock solid in the set piece.
Team Sid Davies, Henry Tucker, Alfie Cannon, Harry Gray, Stephen Shaw, Samuel Humphrey, Freddy Hindson, Tom McClymont, Laurence Hidle, Daniel Hill, Harry Hughes, Chris Holes, Oskar Bhowmick
Scores T: Freddy Hindson (5), Sid Davies (3), Laurence Hidle (2), Daniel Hill (2), Harry Hughes (1), Samuel Humphrey (1)
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