U14 Match Report: Sunday 11th March 2012
Herts County Plate
Tabard (0) vs Hitchin (41)
Tries (7): Frazer (1) Saiful (3), Benji (1), Aaron (1), Max (1)
Cons (3): Max (3)
Mixed A&B Squad: Aaron, Ben F, Benji, Dan C, Dan H, Frazer, George V, Harry, Jack W, Jordan, Max, Ollie M, Ollie P, Sam, Saiful, Toby, Tom B, Will
Tabard RFC are our hosts this morning in beautiful sunny Radlett. It’s a mild day with a light breeze and we’re playing on a gently sloping pitch. An impatient ref waits for Tabard to complete their team talk…
Hitchin kick-off the first half, but retain possession as our rapid forwards catch up with the ball. Poor ball handling gives Tabard an initial thrust into our territory securing them a knock-on scrum at 10m from our try line. A collapsing scrum concedes a penalty to Hitchin giving Dan C the chance to clear to touch. We secure the lineout and pass to Aaron who takes the ball deep into Tabard territory. Tabard concede an offside penalty giving Jack the chance to kick to touch at 10m from the try line. Frazer captures the ball from the lineout and carries through to open scoring with a try in the centre of the posts. Max confidently converts bringing the opening score to Tabard 0 – Hitchin 7.
Tabard restart but good rucking and passing from our boys brings the ball back into Tabard’s half. A fumbled catch gives a knock-on scrum. Saiful steals the ball from the back of the scrum and screams down the touch line outrunning all of Tabard’s defence to score our second try in the centre of the posts. Max converts to double our score to 0-14 at 17 mins in the first half.
Tabard restart and the ball is caught by Sam who powers into Tabard territory. Great passing down the line gives Aaron a chance to run the line but he’s taken out into touch at 10m. Hitchin re-capture the ball in the line-out and pass to Benji who secures our third try in the corner. Max attempts a difficult conversion from the touch line with the ball falling short. Score: Tabard 0 – Hitchin 19 at half-time.
Tabard kick-off the second half with a deep kick into our territory. Hitchin maintain possession with some great rucking and passing. Dan C attempts a high kick into Tabard’s half with Saiful running deep into Tabard lines but he’s brought down by a high tackle. The corresponding penalty gives Jack a chance to kick to touch in the corner. Saiful steals from the line out and scores his second try of the day in the corner. Max attempts another lengthy conversion close to touch but falls short (Tabard 0 – Hitchin 24 at 6 mins into the second half)
Tabard restart but the ball is soon working its way back into their half. A fumbled catch gives a knock-on scrum in the centre. Saiful steals the ball from the back of the scrum and outpaces Tabard’s defence to score his hat-trick third try in the corner. Max goes for his third long conversion from the touch line and a powerful, accurate kick secures another 2 points (T 0 – H 31).
Tabard restart again and barely 2 mins later Aaron screams down the wing outpacing Tabard’s defenders to score a try in the corner. Max has yet another long conversion attempt but falls short (T0 – H 36).
Tabard restart once more but continuous pressure from Hitchin brings the ball back into their half. Hitchin concede a couple of penalties giving Tabard a chance to make some distance but a knock-on forces a scrum mid-way in our half. We win the scrum and some rapid passing down the line gives us great progress into Tabard territory. Max sees an opening in Tabard’s defences and side-steps through the gates to score our 7th and final try! He attempts the final conversion but the game is pretty much over. Final score: Tabard 0 – Hitchin 41.
A stunning game with mixed A and B players delivering some excellent rugby and great teamwork playing to our strengths to secure this victory. The final score would suggest a walk over – but in reality Tabard gave great opposition throughout the game keeping us continuously on our toes, despite losing a number of players to the Schools 7s tournament.
Man-of-the-match awarded to Max Smith for his consistent play. Parents’ man-of-the-match award goes to Frazer, on his birthday!