Hitchin
travelled to Welwyn for this President’s Tankard semi-final, Questionable
decisions by the officials and the Hitchin team themselves, left the visitors
in a challenging position, but a second half recovery found them matching the hosts at 32 all after 80 minutes
9
minutes into the game good hands shown by the Welwyn backs saw them score wide
out, but the conversion was good.
5
minutes later Hitchin’s Vinnie Kevans picked up a fumbled pass to score close
to the posts, but the referee deemed that the conversion kick had gone wide.
Welwyn
hit back with a run in and converted try
before
a penalty
awarded to Hitchin on 25 minutes was successfully kicked by Harry Elleston
28
minutes in and a kind bounce allowed Welwyn to score a
converted try to take a 19-8 lead, but
on 33
minutes
Hitchin were awarded a penalty in the Welwyn 22. However, rather than take the
points on offer, they opted for a scrum which they lost against the head, and
Welwyn sprinted the length of the pitch to score
But
right before half time the Hitchin captain
James Bolter forced over from a quickly taken penalty which went unconverted to
make the half time score 24 – 13 to the hosts
.
Hitchin’s
revival started in the second half as they kept play for the most part in the home
side’s territory, and after 25 minutes Bolter was denied what appeared to be a clear
try on the intervention of the touch judge, but
three
minute later Ryan Godfrey went over for his first try of the season, converted
by Adam Shaw.
A
penalty to Welwyn was kicked into touch & from the resulting lineout 5 m out from the Hitchin line the home
forwards crashed over for an unconverted try.
The
visitors quickly came back as Kevans
finished off some good driving play by the forwards crashing over from 2m.
A
yellow card against Elliott Gibson resulted in Hitchin down to 14 men, and down
a further 3 points through the resulting penalty, to give Welwyn a 7 point lead
But,
with the clock ticking down Bolter drove himself over the line for a try and Shaw kicked the conversion to level the scores
32 – 32 at the end of normal time.
From
the kickoff in extra r time Hitchin gathered the ball but were bundled into
touch and from the lineout the Welwyn backs moved the ball to theit wing, who
broke through some tired tackling to score under the posts.
The
home forwards were lasting the game somewhat better than the visitors and a
classic combination of No8, 9 and winger down the blindside of a scrum saw
another converted try for Welwyn.
The
second half of extra time deep in their 22 under pressure from the home pack
Hitchin lost control of the ball at the back of the scrum and the home side
pounced on it to score another converted try to make the final
Score
Welwyn 53 Hitchin 32
Welwyn
play Stevenage in the final at Allianz Park on 30 April
Team Sean McGinnity, Thomas Tidey, Barry Mellor, Samuel Underwood, Nick Panton, Joshua Page, Daniel Holland, James Bolter, Rhys Gregory, Adam Shaw, Richard Sinclair, Vincent Kevans, Harry Cartwright, Ryan Godfrey, Elliot Gibson
Subs Carwyn Morgan, Daniel Barnes, Philip Hobbs, Harry Elleston
Scores T: James Bolter (2), Vincent Kevans (2), Ryan Godfrey (1)
C: Adam Shaw (2)
P: Harry Elleston (1)
Player(s) of Match 1. Vincent Kevans
The league: London North West 3