A Tale of Two Halfs !

Having put in a below par performance in the last league game against Grasshoppers, Stortford were eager to make amends in this local derby against Hertford B's. The early exchanges went the way of the home side as a fast start led to 2 early tries and a 12 – 0 lead after quarter of an hour. Hertford, despite a number of handling errors, hung in however and registered the next score to stay in the hunt. At this stage Stortford had dominated possession and were a permanent threat, regularly turning the visitors and playing the game in the Hertford 22. Despite this dominance however, Hertford were also presenting a significant threat and started to look more confident with ball in hand. The sides exchanged a try a piece, followed by a penalty kick to Stortford, however Hertford finished the half in the ascendant with a try on the stroke of half time.

The 22-17 scoreline at the break was a fair reflection of how the game had gone and both sides had reasons to be optimistic. If Stortford had marginally shaded the play in the first 35 minutes, the second half was a different story as the home side’s error count mounted and Hertford put together a very composed performance. Five unanswered second half tries to the visitors reflected their dominance as Stortford’s defence was continually punctured and Hertford’s superior ball skills and nowce, allowed them to put clear daylight between the sides. Stortford never gave up however and worked hard, ultimately to no avail.

A really good game between two good sides went the way of the visitors and leaves Stortford needing to win the next league fixture to ease any relegation pressure in this small division, (as Hitchin B's appear to have withdrawn).

MDM - Jez

Team: Marsh, Simons, Matthews, Downing, Dutta, Millard, Goodfellow, Jones, Gleed, Neal, Townsend, Belton, Abbott, Richardson, Hall, Stevenson, Obeng, Wilkes, Langan, Reynolds