Hitchin started off their season with
a friendly against a side they will meet in the league in a few weeks time.
From the first minutes Hitchin were
on the defence which held out well but a well rehearsed move by UCS
put their centre in under the posts.
Just before the end of the quarter
poor tackling in broken play let the UCS centre in through the middle to make
the score 0-14.
The second quarter started well for
Hitchin with a charged down kick being picked by prop James Akrill who carried
the ball to within 10 m of the UCS line, and from this position a heel against the head and
some good handling led to Will Rooney going over for an unconverted try to
bring the score to 5 - 14.
Hitchin continued to pressure and
were held up 10 metres short but a scrum and a few forward drives saw the ball go
to Ben Wiggins who went in under the posts, and converted his own try to make
the score 12-14.
Last years captain James Bolter going
over from a quickly taken penalty. gave Hitchin the lead 19-14, the conversion
by Ben Wiggins being successful.
A defensive error allowed UCS back in
to make it 19-19, and
another great run by Bolter deep into
the opposition half came to naught, by Hitchin giving away a penalty by falling
on the ruck
Hitchin fought back into the opposition
half with an evasive run by Rooney which was stopped illegally. Hitchin
opted to go for a scrum which they had dominated all afternoon, and the ball
came out to Chris Martin to cross in the corner, to bring the final score
Hitchin 24 UCS Old Boys 19
Hitchin man of the match, with his first
cap, was Armel Baufume
Team Sean McGinnity, Tom Tidey, James Bolter, Thomas Spratt, Matt Trussell, Frederick Rooney, Sam Willoughby, Armel Baufume, William Evans, Ben Wiggins, William Rooney, Jon Whitby, Thomas Attwell, Arthur Bardinet, Alistair Southward
Subs Chris Martin, William Sale, James Akrill, Kyle Honney, Dominic Baber-Norris
Scores T: Ben Wiggins (1), William Rooney (1), Chris Martin (1)
C: Ben Wiggins (2)
Player(s) of Match 1. Armel Baufume