Hitchin RFC 14-12 Welwyn RFC
Hitchin sat 1 point above Welwyn in 6th place in Counties 1 Herts/Middlesex, having endured a tough November with 3 losses from 3 away games.
Hitchin took a slight advantage into the first half, Storm Darragh inducing a howling crosswind towards the clubhouse. Much of the early proceedings were played out with the ball off the park, both sides happy to cede possession on a difficult day for handling.
A promising Welwyn break was halted by Full Back Dan Wiggins, who deflected a kick through and allowed Hitchin to regain possession. Hitchin then set up camp in the Welwyn 22, and found the first breakthrough. Captain Frazer McGown picked from the back of the scrum and fed Scrum Half Ryan Godfrey, who found Centre Simon Taylor stepping through a gap to score the first try. Wiggins converted for a 7-0 lead after 15 minutes.
Welwyn endured the next 20 minutes with 14 men due to 2 separate yellow cards. Handling errors continued to flow, and Hitchin were unable to convert their territorial dominance into points.
The Hedgehogs were made to pay for this profligacy, as the visitors made their first foray into the Hitchin 22. Off quick ball from the bottom of the ruck, Welwyn Fly Half Thomas Laing picked up a ball off his laces and exploited a mismatch in defence to score in the left corner. The conversion was missed and both sides raced for the shelter of the changing rooms at half time.
The scrum went back and forth all day, both sides earning penalties throughout the match. Hitchin picked up a valuable penalty early in the second half but were unable to enter the Welwyn 22. Welwyn were still acclimatising to the favourable winds, and put a kick over the Hitchin dead ball line.
Welwyn turned down kickable penalties and Hitchin punished this tactic when they twice held up Welwyn over the line. The second goal line drop out went straight out of play, and Welwyn picked from the back of the subsequent scrum to score their second try, converted by Centre AB Makoni for a 12-7 lead after 65 minutes.
Hitchin collected their own kick off and made promising inroads into the Welwyn 22, just as a power surge caused a floodlight failure on one side of the pitch. Winger Greg Ranson, an Electrician by trade, found the fault and after a 5 minute delay the action resumed.
A frantic spell of rugby ensued, Hitchin unable to retain possession but Welwyn unable to exit their 22. Two forward pods put Hitchin in range, and Prop James Bolter carried the final 5 metres to level the scores. Wiggins expertly converted into the full face of the storm.
While the kick off went out on the full, Welwyn regathered possession and put in a clever kick, gathered 10 metres out by Ranson. Welwyn elected to scrum rather than kick the points from 2 penalties, and from the third scrum the Hitchin pack found reserves of strength to win their own penalty. Wiggins tapped and kicked the ball out of play to secure a narrow victory.
Hitchin climb to fifth in the table, and begin the second half of the season away at Brunel University on Saturday 14th December.
The Vets hosted another local derby against Stevenage Town Vets on Friday night. Stevenage scored two first half tries, but Hitchin scored the first of the second half, Fly Half Greg Lewis scoring the try and Scrum Half astu Pledge the conversion. Sadly it was not to be as another Stevenage try took them 17-7 ahead, before an injury brought a premature halt to proceedings.