Extra A 33 v Hertford 3s 0

The Extra A were back in league action on Saturday, making the short trip down the road to face a Hertford side who sat just a couple of points below us in the league. Conditions were far from perfect, with the strong wind driving the persistent drizzle down the field.

Fortunately for us, we were playing with the elements firmly in our favour in the first half. Despite this though, it was all Hertford in the first 5 minutes; they came flying out of the blocks and immediately built pressure within the Stortford 22, after some resolute defence though, a penalty was won and we were able to exit without a blemish on the scoreboard. After a period of scrappy play we saw the first signs of the dominating Stortford scrum, the front row of Slayer, Law and Johnstone proving too much for Hertford to handle and providing the backs with an excellent platform to play from. On the ten minute mark Stortford struck their first blow; an initial blindside carry saw T, playing at 15 today in treacherous conditions, find Sperm who cut inside and found support from Tank, who used his considerable size to go over close to the posts. It didn't take long at all for the next try; strong carries from 3rd team regulars Scott Fricker and Hugh Michell saw the ball eventually (and bizarrely) make its way to none other than Alex 'Slayer' Wilson on the right hand side. Slayer saw he was in acres and opted to ignore the winger outside him (Dean Boyle *applause*), get his head down and storm towards the line: the sight was not dissimilar to that of a bull being chased by a cattle-prod wielding farmer. Slayer had the gas, and fell over the line after some 40 yard run in, much to the delight (and bemusement) of his team mates. The conversion from Sperm hit the post to leave the score at 12-0.

Stortford registered the next score after another ten minutes of midfield nothingness; the slippery ball led to some very questionable handling from the visitors but we were saved each time by the dominance of our pack in the set piece. After several carries from our engine room regulars Carter and captain Slade, as well as scrum half Sam Read, the impressive Fricker found a good short line and stepped his way over for our third try. Unfortunately Scott had to leave the field soon after, a bruised labia inhibiting him from playing on. We scored again just before half time, after a bouncing loose ball (after some typically dodgy handling) found its way into the arms of Tom Roche, Rochey showed great initial power to get free of 2 defenders and then pace to match as he galloped to the line from deep within his own half. To the credit of the Hertford defender, he did catch Roche and tackle him on the line, but the momentum proved too much and Rochey finished the job. This was the last meaningful act of the half, giving us a commanding 27-0 lead. However, we knew all too well that Hertford would never roll over, and with the conditions against us the second half was always going to be more challenging.

The blues got the second half under way into the wind and rain, and from the outset the Hertford plan was clear. Their fly half kicked deep on numerous occasions, but was somewhat foiled by the impressive Tiarnan Kelly at fullback, who returned several kicks with interest. When they did find touch the Stortford lineout- well-co-ordinated by Michell and Carter- was constantly disruptive and turned over a lot of ball. The contest was certainly more even at the start of the second half, but the introduction of James Murphy, Dan Gallagher and Hayden Farrelly gave us an added impetus in our defensive efforts. Stortford attacked with real purpose on several occasions but our last pass often let us down. With a re-shuffled back line winger Alex Tindall, who had so far been frustrated out on his wing, moved to 13 and gave us an extra option in the midfield alongside the constantly hard working Tank. Halfway through the second half Tindall showed his capabilities; after yet another powerful Stortford scrum he found an excellent line and took a delayed pass from Sperm to go through almost untouched and score under the posts. All credit to a battling Hertford side who typically never gave up and really pressed hard in the last 5 minutes to try and get themselves a score. They were held up a couple of times by a committed Stortford defence, and eventually an error led to the full time whistle.

A great win for the Extra A in tricky weather conditions, the zero score line was clearly the thing we were most pleased about. MOTM contenders included the whole front row for a powerful set piece display, as well as good games around the park from Carter, Michell, Tiarnan and Tank. The try of Slayer though simply could not be ignored, so the award rightfully went to the hairy backed, no-nonsense prop. Dick of the day contenders included Ben Law (outrageous pass out the back which someone actually managed to catch), Rochey (confusing Tindall’s hands for his feet, more than once) and Sladey (coz). However, truth be told, it was sewn up before the game: Windsor’s own Alexander James Tindall III declaring before the match that he would ‘dedicate his first try to Ben Millard and his family’, meaning that if he didn’t score at least twice, then he would be DoD automatically. He didn’t, and he was.

All in all a great win away against a tough team. Next week will be another stern challenge at home vs high flying Letchworth 2’s.