Hertford 3s 5 v BSRFC Mitres 92

To begin, a new reporter has taken on the exciting role of writing the match reports for the Mitres this year, so hopefully he can prove more talented than the one we have had in previous years.

The month of September has arrived and this can only mean one thing………... RUGBY SEASON is finally back, and what better way to start with than a friendly game against our arch rivals Hertford, and on a glorious sunny afternoon, this promised to be a great day for some open rugby to be played.

With a very fresh faced side and a few old ones, the Mitres kicked off the match from right to left with the sun to our backs. From the word go, the Mitres were applying heavy pressure and our opponents certainly were not enjoying being pinned back in their own half so early on in the match. Within the first 10 minutes of the game Gallagher opened the scoring, pressing up and forcing his opposite man into a handling error and capitalised on this error by gathering the ball and running in a very easy effort to open the scoring for the mitres. Within minutes tries from the mitres started to flood in, with some brilliant carries from the forwards coming from Radley, Palumbo and Dragan in particular. This really put the mitres on the front foot, which in turn created tries for Roberts and Walsh to get their names on the scoresheet. Our backs were also showing how deadly they can be with ball in hand and open space. Some fantastic hands and some devastating lines to go the through the Hertford defence, saw inside centre Moore going over the whitewash after some splendid backline moves and flair.

Hertford did show that they were determined to get over the Mitres line and really put some pressure on our forwards. However carrying on from our previous friendly, the mitres defence was rock solid and was certainly up to meet the challenge of Hertford’s attack. With some fantastic defensive work coming from the mitres, both forwards and backs, some big hits coming in from Gage, Hammond and Smith particularly. After a crooked lineout the mitres turned defence into attack showing how deadly the mitres could be on the counter attack and went over to convert yet another try. The rest of the half really started to become one way traffic with some great breaks from Brevitt Smith and Smith in the backs and Readshaw and Geoffery in the forwards. Both Readshaw and Geoffery also added tries to the scoreboard just before the half time whistle. The Mitres went in 50-0 at half time and certainly would hope to continue this form and momentum going into the second half.

After a well-deserved break at half time from the hot conditions, the Mitres rang the changes, seeing Mackenzie, Prime, King and Benfield getting a piece of the action. With the Mitres facing into the Sun, the second half was underway and for our local rivals it was once again one way traffic and the Mitres were really starting to enjoy themselves with some brilliant moves from the forwards and backs linking up superbly along with some great solo efforts too. Further tries from the Mitres came in the form of Roberts, Gallagher, Dragan and Readshaw. Hertford did however manage to finally break down a tough and solid Mitres defence in the form of a rolling maul from a 5 metre lineout. This only made the Mitres determined to score more tries before the end of the game, and this was done by substitute King and Skipper Hammond both crossing the line before the final whistle. Referee blew his whistle after a brilliant performance from a new looking Mitres side and ran out worthy winners, winning 92 – 5 against our arch rivals Hertford.

Man of the match really could have gone to a number of people and the great thing about this was it was a great team performance and everyone played fantastically. This shows real promise for the season ahead going into a new league and knowing the standard will be tough in ZOO 3. Special mentions must go to Gage, Readshaw, Smith, Palumbo, Dragan and Gallagher. However there can only be one man of the match and this went to Mike Roberts, he was his usual bossy self and really did cut open the Hertford backline with his quick feet, scoring some fantastic solo efforts and being on hand to create a couple of tries too.

Onwards and upwards for the Mitres and with the first League game next week away to Richmond Saxons this will set us in good stead and high spirits starting off as Zoo league 3 debutants and will be up for the challenge that lies ahead.