Off to a flying start!

Upon arriving the guys found themselves having to wait for ages for the game to begin, the previous match seemed to go on and on, and the parents in attendance had their own difficulties in that the little burger van was obviously not prepared for visitors and promptly ran out of paper cups for tea and coffee, and with the weather deteriorating this was a big issue!!

However after the longest warm up in ages the guys finally took to the stage and the match commenced. Stevenage looked a well balanced side with a mix of big forwards and nimble looking backs and from the kick off they dominated the early stages of play, and it didn’t take them long to execute a well worked move with a chip from their backs over the heads of our defence and they went over near the corner. This quick score didn’t deter the team, and we proceeded to dominate play for the next 10 minutes with us being camped in their 22, and if we had managed to keep hold of the ball close to the line, we would have scored sooner than we did.
Luke Benton was the recipient of the first try of our new season, built on the back of some strong forward play driving Stevenage back to their own line, and when an attempted clearance from their half back was charged down by Nic, it enabled us to capitalise and from the charge down Luke was able to storm over for the first of his hat-trick of tries.

By now we were controlling many aspects of the game, and despite being ring rusty, we were exerting constant pressure on the Stevenage defence, who were strong in the tackle and in the loose, not only hitting hard but also driving over the gain line and forcing us to play off the back foot repeatedly, and it was these mistakes on our part that led to our second try (and possibly best executed try of the day). From deep in our own half (a rarity) the ball sped along our back line and a combination of Rohan Finnegan and Alex flew up the left wing eating the ground up as they broke tackles and opened up the try line. Some great last ditch defence by Stevenage almost saved the day, but the arrival of the forwards leant weight (sic) to the attack and after a couple of pick and goes Patrick was able to breach the line and score. Unfortunately our place kicking radar was a bit off and, like the first try, the conversion was missed.

We closed out the first half with the score 10-5 in our favour. A couple of changes were made at half time and with the “hill” in our favour we picked up where we left off, our scrumming was consistent, and we were taking strikes against the head, though the new scrum laws did take a while to bed in, with one scrum being attempted at least 6 times!
What was pleasing to the observers was our interplay between the forwards and backs, and the ability of our back line to punch holes and create space. It was this , combined with Rohan coming in from the opposite wing that created the space for Luke to cut a swathe through the Stevenage defence and power over for our 3rd try of the game, soon followed up by our fourth which was almost a carbon copy of the previous one, though this time Luke had more space to operate in and he managed to put the ball down under posts , which enabled our one and only conversion of the day to be made by Alex.

In between Stevenage managed a score of their own which was somewhat fortuitous and against the run of play but was a credit to their determination and forward play, and their ability to continuously recycle the ball at the right time.

Not be out down by our backs, the forwards had one final say in the game, and with a flowing move of our own, saw the skipper power over for our 5th try and the end of a hard game.

This was a tough work out for both teams and there is still a lot to work on as we build up to this year's league games, but the omens look good, if we continue to step up the training and take on board the coaching from the team....

A great turnout once again from the parents, who I am sure were pleased with the outcome and made up for the first early start of the season!

Rob Hirst