Hitchin opened their season with a trip to north London
Although the team lost by 4 tries to two at Finchley , coach Adam Shaw was encouraged with the performance by a team that had not played together before, due to pre season
absences
Hitchin kicked off and for the first ten minutes play switched
from end to end before the home side
took the lead with a run down the right flank ,to escape defenders’ tackles to
score under the posts for an easy conversion
Hitchin enjoyed
a period camped in the Finchley 22, but poor decisions as they sought to open their
score resulted in Finchley clearing their line.
Now back in the Hitchin half they benefitted from some
weak tackling as a scrambled defence failed to stop a try and a further 7 points.
On 30 minutes Hitchin attacked in mid field and were stopped 10 m from the goal line. Taking the
ball against the head from the resulting scrum, the pack drove over the line
for number 8 Tony Williams to touch down, the conversion kick just failing
However, Finchley came back with a repeat of their first try,
down the right flank for 7 points to lead by 19 – 5 at half time
The visitors struck back immediately from the start of the second
half, fielding the Finchley kick off & attacking through the middle , sending
debutant Joe Barnes through to score under
the posts, for Jack Peachey to add the two points.
Finchley widened the gap with a penalty after 5 minutes , and as hard as
they tried Hitchin were unable to add to
their score, and it was the home side, awarded a penalty in their own half, who
broke through in midfield before a floated pass found the right wing who ran in for a converted try
With the clock ticking down, the visitors looked to reduce
the deficit as they exerted some pressure in the Finchley half, but the referee’s
whistle brought their efforts to an end
with the score at 12-29
The Hitchin pack had played well in the set pieces, but the
home side had gained important advantage during the game winning most of the turnovers , giving their backs plenty of good ball
Local rivals Stevenage visit Old Hale Way on Saturday 16th,
having also lost their first encounter of the 2017-18 season
Team Harry Elleston, Thomas Tidey, James Bolter, Max Stallard, Dale Baines, Joshua Page, Joe Barnes, Anthony Williams, Rhys Gregory, Ben Wiggins, Elliot Gibson, Jon Whitby, Jack Peachey, Charles Wood-Jones, Carwyn Morgan
Subs Aiken Verschuur, James Akrill, Robert Shaw
Scores T: Anthony Williams (1), Joe Barnes (1)
C: Jack Peachey (1)
Player(s) of Match 1. Max Stallard
The league: London North West 3