Hitchin first team ,missing 5 regular first team players ,lost
to a very well drilled St Albans side in this league fixture
The visitors scored early to take a 7 point lead, brushing
aside some week tackling
Hitchin’s defence, which had been so effective the previous
week, allowed St Albans to run in
two further tries In the first quarter, to give them a healthy 21 points lead.
Hitchin fought back
and were pressing on the St Albans line when a backrow pickup pass from a scrum
was intercepted by a St Albans player who ran the length of the field to score
an unconverted try.
With ten minutes to go in the half a good break in midfield
by Hitchin centre Carwyn Morgan was
stopped 10 metres out by a good tackle by the St Albans full back, but Hitchin
managed to retain possession and following good work by the forwards Sam
Underwood crashed over under the posts.
The conversion was added by Ben Wiggins as was a penalty a
few minutes before halftime, which came
with the score at 10 -33
Early pressure from Hitchin in the second half came to
nothing, and it was St Albans who extended their lead after 10 minutes with a converted try
5 minutes later Hitchin were penalised and the visitors took a
quick kick to run in a further 5 points
At the end of the third quarter St Albans kicked a penalty to
touch on the 10 m line, and forced their
way over the line to reach 50 points
Hitchin did not give up and pressure from a line out 5 metres
out from the St Albans Line was rewarded ,when the Hitchin no 8 Tom Spratt
charged down a clearance kick, and won the race to touch down
for a try ,converted
again by Ben Wiggins.
Hitchin scored again with a well worked try with the ball
passed along the backs for winger Will
Rooney to outpace the covering defence to dive over in the corner but
too far for the conversion to be successful.
The final score came when ex Hitchin player Ollie Fountain side
stepped through a tired defence to score under the posts.
Hitchin’s next league fixture is at Verulamians on 3 March
Team Thomas Tidey, Tom Ramsay, James Akrill, Samuel Underwood, Adam Baird, Harry Elleston, Lewis Pettinger, Thomas Spratt, William Evans, Ben Wiggins, Charles Wood-Jones, Tom Harries, Carwyn Morgan, William Rooney, Elliot Gibson
Subs Ryan Godfrey, Jake Ware, Gary Ayres
Scores T: William Rooney (1), Thomas Spratt (1), Samuel Underwood (1)
C: Ben Wiggins (2)
P: Ben Wiggins (1)
Player(s) of Match 1. Tom Harries
The league: London North West 3