Heartache in Harrow

Some pre-match nerves occasioned by injuries and a couple of no shows (come on parents!) were initially dispelled by a solid start which showed the boys that this was a beatable team.

Having dominated possession and territory Harrow were able to score their first in an 'against the run of play' break and some spilled passes down the backs.

The boys went straight back from the restart and in a pattern that was to continue throughout the game, dominated up front and camped in the Harrow 22. Several pushover tries were averted and several carries over the line were held up. All credit to Harrow for their defending. They were forced to kick to clear their lines, but then capitalised on those reversals to put points on the board with breakaway tries. The last minutes of the first half saw us in a try scoring position but our momentum was lost when play was stopped for a Harrow injury and they held on to halftime which saw them 3 tries and 2 conversions up. They were not a better team.

The second half was much the same as the first. We dominated possession and territory only for them to take opportunities presented by handling and tackling errors, and an injury to JK when inexplicably play was not stopped, to score.

Even down to 14 men the boys never gave up and in the latter part of the second half they were rewarded with a try after Paddy was able to pile over and touch down for the 5th time, the previous 4 having been held up. Then some lovely handling by the backs pushing the ball down the line gave Rohan just the opportunity to screech over into the corner.

Final score 33-10. A score line that does not reflect the general run of play or the intensity with which the boys played.

Finally a special mention to our sterling linesman Rob Hirst who after some early season jitters and some myopia in Maidenhead is now really getting the hang of running the line.
Written by Mark Rondell