Having been close to winning against league
leaders Verulamiams earlier in the month,
the Hedgehogs again raised their game
against 3rd placed Welwyn, at Old Hale way on Saturday
In the
second half they put up a great fight, and having replaced prop Sean McGinnity
and lock Sam Underwood, both with suspected concussion, Hitchin were then reduced
to 14 men after 15 minutes, with the issue of a disputed red card
But Hitchin
had started the match well, camped in the visitors’ half, and after 5 minutes
were rewarded with a try as the pack attacked the line ,for McgGinnity to touch
down
Welwyn came
back strongly to the Hitchin 22, but the defence held out. But soon the strong
Welwyn backs cut through the midfield to
find touch 10 m from the line. Play was switched across the field where an overlap allowed
them to score an unconverted try to draw level
Both sides
were putting together attacking phases, but the respective defences held out,
until after 25 minutes the Hitchin pack gained ground for prop Harry Elleston
to cross the line , Ben Higgins adding
the extra points from near touch , to give his side a 7 point lead
But the lead
was short lived as the Welwyn backs again cut through some poor tackling to score a converted try to draw level
at 12-12
.As half
time approached, the visitors found
touch 10 from the Hitchin line, and
moved play towards the posts before the pack gained a third try to take
a 5 point lead into the second half
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- - - -
The early
stages of this half produced some scrappy play , and after 10 minutes a Welwyn
player was yellow carded. Five minutes later, a scuffle off the ball resulted
in a further yellow for Welwyn, and the red card for Hitchin, although the referee awarded
Hitchin the resulting penalty
Welwyn, although for a short while a man down
, scored their bonus point forth try to take a 10 point lead, but the home side
came back strongly and putting pressure on the visitors’ goal line were awarded
a penalty try to narrow the gap to just 3 points, although a card was not
issued
After 30
minutes Hitchin kept up the pressure as,
back again in the Welwyn 22, the forwards
took control for veteran Ryan Arbon to be credited with a further 5 points, the 14 men taking a slender but well deserved 2 point
lead(& a bonus point)
The visitors
raised their game and launched attacks
only for the Hitchin defence to keep them at bay, and eventually clear their line with a kick to touch on halfway, only to be brought back for a penalty
for an apparent offside and Welwyn took
advantage of a disrupted defence to
cross in the corner for 7 points, and a 5 point lead
As Hitchin ,
back in the Welwyn half , sought to bring about an unexpected victory, Welwyn broke away on the right wing to run through for a sixth
try, Hitchin losing a further bonus point with the final score at 24 – 34
A good
performance by the Hedgehogs, but once again not the result they wanted
Team Sean McGinnity, Joshua Page, James Akrill, Max Stallard, Nick Panton, Samuel Underwood, Lewis Pettinger, James Bolter, Heinrich Schlehmeyer, Ben Wiggins, Harry Cartwright, Carwyn Morgan, Jack Peachey, Jack Powell, Alistair Southward
Subs Harry Elleston, Joe Barnes, Ryan Arbon
Scores T: Sean McGinnity (1), Harry Elleston (1), Ryan Arbon (1)
C: Ben Wiggins (1)
Player(s) of Match 1. Nick Panton
The league: London North West 3