Hertford 40, Stortford 70, 6th Feb 11

All,
The biggest anticipated clash of the season did not disappoint.

First to kick off was the two Martin’s team, although neither Martin was actually there! From the start the rugby was excellent in every department and Stortford quickly had Hertford on the back foot!
This culminated in so many try’s I couldn’t get an accurate score off anybody. Glad to say it was mainly our boys scoring and we were 4 or 5 tries up before too long. Nathan seemed to have a natural radar for Rugby even though it was only his third week, with hard tackles and 2 try’s as well only outdone by Ben who scored a hat trick of try’s after some more excellent team work. Also Riku and Jamie came back with some fine tackling and running in midfield with more try’s. The scrum was solid and line outs won with every player doing his job, which culminated in more try’s than apparently the spectators could count. Tries from Ben (3), Nathan (2) Jamie (2) Riku, Drew (who replaced Ben and was supposed to ‘weaken’ the team) and also Michael Sollars who is making good progress!
Final score now confirmed by Ray Hertford 10, Stortford 50. I think!!

Second up was Gary’s team. This proved to be a controversial affair with decisions given that confounded the best of us. We played some of the finest Rugby this season only to have some breakaway try’s against us. It was good to see Harry getting stuck in to tackling ex-Stortford player (big) Ed, and laughing at the same time. Also Louis was thrown into the deep end of scrum half and did a good job. To be fair to Herford they played slightly better and Stortford found themselves most of the time playing in our own half.
Final score Hertford 15, Stortford nil.

Next to play was Ray’s team. This proved to be a tight game with both teams struggling to get the upper hand. The experience of the scrum shone through with some fine hooking and around the field play by Drew. But the star of the day goes to Jamie who was playing by far his best Rugby this season. Stortford went a try up with a well worked team effort seeing Michael take the glory and stayed a try up for a very long time. The tackling in midfield continued to be excellent from both sides which kept the game very tight. In fact Stortford were still a try up 5 minutes after the game was due to finish. Then Hertford scored a try to level the game and the whistle blew for full time.
Final score Hertford 5, Stortford 5.

Final team to play was the rematch with Gary’s team. This was to prove a hotly contested game with both Hertford and Stortford playing to the best of their abilities. This time Stortford was looking the better team and Hertford found themselves on the back foot. Stortford scored first with a great team effort culminating in a try by Captain Cameron. In the second half another team effort ended in a try by Jaq and gave Stortford a commanding lead. Whilst struggling in the scrum Stortford still managed to win balls against the head and in the line outs Stortford also had the upper hand. Hertford managed to come back into the game with some mistakes punished by penalties given against Stortford. Another team effort finished with Connor scoring, making the most of his new position. A late push by Hertford saw them cross the line but held up by some quick thinking by Will.
Final score Hertford 10, Stortford 15.

A great days Rugby with the best play I have seen this season by all the boys, well done to all. And Ray was particularly impressed with both games from both ‘his’ teams!

The exemplary behaviour by both sets of players was unfortunately let down by some adults. This is not what we would normally want the players to see or hear and we always preach the code of conduct within the club.