A much changed Stortford squad from Saturday’s encounter at Ealing included only 7 players with Nat 1 experience, providing an opportunity for the full squad to have a runout and produced a very even and hard-fought contest over 2 very different halves against Hertford, who had brought two full teams.
The first half saw Stortford dominant against what proved to be the weaker of the visitors’ teams, but lineout struggles limited the scores to 2 home tries, by Rory Banks after 7 minutes and a great solo effort from young hooker, Theo Dan after 31.
Stortford’s young squad showed colossal commitment in the tackle throughout and their defensive resolve was fully tested in the second half, when a much stronger Hertford team dominated all aspects of the set piece and showed some skill and power outside, as had the home side in the first period. With two Stortford forwards in the bin, the visitors scored two good tries through Harry Barker and Charlie Parkhouse, but the home side showed their resilience, when restored to 15 men, spending the last 5 minutes on the Hertford line, with the visitors happy in the end to settle for a draw.