Hertford Colts 26, BSRFC Colts 30

Following the success of the B team game, the A's made a strong start against a Hertford side who have progressed to the semi-finals of the LV cup having recently beaten OA's.
The BS forwards made an excellent start, with strong runs from many of the main ball carriers, with Liam Jones and Brad Etherington both prominent. However, after an early try, a number of unforced handling errors gave Hertford some ball to run with and good pace in the backs saw them score twice in quick succession, despite playing in to a strong wind. This set the pattern for much of the game, BS being the more powerful side but too many mistakes always giving the Hertford side a chance.
BS managed to establish a 25-12 lead with 15 minutes to go, after 4 more unconverted tries, but an inability to field and clear some Hertford kicks and a yellow card saw us concede 2 converted tries in quick succession to trail by 26-25 with just a few minutes to play.
However, a return to a full 15 and some direct running with good support got BS to a scrum on the Hertford '22 with just 2 minutes to play. A clean strike from hooker Harry Forbes, who was vocal throughout the game, allowed Brad Etherington to pick up from no.8 and brush aside some attempted tackles before crashing over for the try, helped by the fact that most of his run was downhill. Charlie Kettle took his time over the conversion so that, despite a narrow miss, time was up and BS had completed the double over Hertford, winning this game 30-26.