Hertford U15 ‘B’ 0 vs Hitchin U15 ‘B’ 22 (Friendly)
Starting XV: Charlie, Toby, Maitiu, Ashley G, James H, Huw, Taylor, Jack W, Benji, Dan C, Luke, Conor, Will J, Jamie
Subs: OJ, Dion, Jack F, Zac, Bradley (nb. rolling subs throughout match)
Tries: Will J, Maitiu, Jack W, Luke
Conversions: Dan C
Hitchin U15 ‘B’ got their new season under way with a friendly match at Hertford RFC on Sunday morning. In a match split into three 20 minute thirds the visitors quickly took control of the match.
The first try came early on when a good Hitchin scrum saw the ball moved out to Matt who made good ground before passing the ball out to James who also made good progress before being held up. From the resulting melee the ball made its’ way out to Will on the wing who showed good upper body strength to twist his way over the line to put Hitchin into an early 5 point lead.
With the Hitchin forwards working well Hertford struggled to make any real impact in their opponents half and despite playing across their back line to move towards the Hitchin try line some solid defence work by the visitors managed to keep Hertford at bay.
From this good defensive work Hitchin almost hit Hertford on the break when a good clearing kick by Dan caused chaos in the Hertford ranks as he collected the loose ball from his own kick and ran on towards the try line. Unfortunately for Hitchin the move came to nothing but from the resulting breakdown Hitchin maintained the pressure near to the goal line and were eventually rewarded when Maitiu forced himself and the ball over to increase the lead to 10-0.
Hitchin’s grip on the game continued as Hertford were unable to make any attacking progress and were forced to mainly play sideways in their own half as Hitchin pressed forward. A third try was soon on the cards as both Luke and Will nearly got in until finally Jack W made the score following another good run by Matt which was then topped off by a great piece of recycling from the back of the scrum. 15-0.
The start of the second 20 minute period saw several changes as the rolling subs came on but this didn’t seem to affect Hitchin as they set about attacking the Hertford end once again. A good collect and run by Jamie was quickly followed by a great run by Bradley ably supported by Charlie as Hitchin pressed Hertford back towards the corner near their try line.
It was then Toby’s turn to run at the Hertford defence and his pass to Bradley was quickly released to Dan who then played the ball smartly along the line to Matt. He then continued the move with a space creating pass to Luke who gratefully sped clear to increase Hitchin’s advantage. A successful conversion by Dan moved the score on further as Hitchin moved into a 22-0 lead.
Having established a commanding lead Hitchin then took their foot off of the gas a little bit as the remainder of the second period saw Hertford attempt to get back into the match. This nearly happened as a splendid breaking run saw them being denied what would normally have been a clear try scoring opportunity thanks to a wonder tackle by Luke who seemed to appear from nowhere to force both the player and ball into touch. Hitchin’s defensive work continued to impress though with the whole team working hard to maintain their grip on the match despite pressure from the home side as the second period of play drew to a close.
The final period of the game saw several more rolling substitutions as Hitchin set about tightening up areas of their play that had started to get ragged before the break. This enabled them to see the match out without conceding any tries and sealing a well deserved opening season win at potentially difficult opponents. Final score 22-0 and a good start which, although there is still some work to do in a few areas, hopefully will bode well for the season ahead.
Man of the Match: Luke – scored a text book try and produced the tackle of the match