Heiny sored a brace of tries
The visitors kicked off this London & SE first round cup
tie, with a stiff breeze assisting them. Unbeaten this season they quickly
settled down , attacking in the Hitchin
22, but the defence held out and play was switched to the Stowmarket end
, exerting pressure on their goal line
before a break out saved the day. But back on the attack a Hitchin forward pass
stopped a promising move , and after 10 minutes it was the visitors who opened
the scoring to lead 7-0
Hitchin were being penalised too often , and Stowmarket
converted from 20 m to extend their lead. Hitchin came back strongly but after
20 minutes the opposition cut through the middle to run in their second try,
unconverted
Hitchin lost Joe Barnes to a yellow card for a mis-timed
tackle, before the Stowmarket nine picked
up the ball at the base of the Hitchin
scrum 15 m from the goal line, to touch down under the posts for a dubious try,
duly converted
A breakout from their 22 by skipper James Bolter took Hitchin
into the opposition half, but once again they were penalised at the breakdown,
for Stowmarket to lead 22 – 0 at half tine.
With the penalty count far too high for comfort in the first
half, Hitchin were awarded a penalty 5 minutes after the restart, 20 m from the
visitors’ line. Opting for a scrum, they were held by Stowmarket, but soon
after a typical run by Alistair Southward took play back to the 22, resulting
in scrum half Heiny Schlehmeyer finishing off some good play to
touch down for his first try, the conversion failing. Southward had unfortunately received a head
injury and took no further part in the
game , but Bolter continued the fight back as he scored following some bright
attacking play, Ben Wiggins adding the extra points to narrow the gap to 12 - 22
Entering the final quarter of the match, the visitors were
putting together phases of attacking play, but were unable to breach the
defence, until a number of quick passes
and off loads saw them cross in the
corner of an excellent converted try
A Hitchin penalty saw
them take play to a lineout 15 m from the goal line, where a yellow card reduced the visitors to 14 men. Switching
play across field, stung running and
quick passing saw
Schlehmeyer celebrate with his second try to bring the score
to 17 – 29
A strong run by centre
Utah Taylor-Surman got Hitchin back into the opposition 22, and then with full time approaching, Carywn Morgan finished
off a move to crash over in the right corner, Wiggins unable to convert
This was an excellent second half fight back by the home
side, who improved their discipline, and showed signs of real promise.
Stowmarket , however, stamped their authority on the game before
the
er final whistle with a fifth try, to
end deserved winners by 34 – 22
Next week Hitchin return to league duties, with a home tie against Cheshunt RFC
Team Sean McGinnity, Thomas Tidey, James Bolter, Samuel Underwood, Nick Panton, Joshua Page, Joe Barnes, Anthony Williams, Heinrich Schlehmeyer, Ben Wiggins, Alistair Southward, Utah Taylor-Surman, Carwyn Morgan, Charles Wood-Jones, Elliot Gibson
Subs Harry Elleston, Max Stallard, Adam Shaw, James Akrill
Scores T: Heinrich Schlehmeyer (2), Carwyn Morgan (1), James Bolter (1)
C: Ben Wiggins (1)
Player(s) of Match 1. Thomas Tidey
The league: London North West 3