Dig deep we did

A&C A Squad – Jake Wilkins, Ethan Nelson, Ed Griffiths, Harry Spennewyn, Dominic Goodman, Matthew Dewhurst, Charlie Barraclough, Jack Gurney, Matthew Bellamy, Monty Weatherall, Max Shepherd, Blake Morris, Isaac MacDonald, Zac Collingbourne, Devan Owen

Subs: George O’Keefe, Jack Allen, Adam Fairley, James Churchman

With six A squad players missing through injury & sickness we had to dig deep to find replacements, and dig deep we did, all the way to Australia in the form of Jack Allen who we welcomed back after 12 months in what is his ‘summer’ holiday. Our thanks to Jack and all the other replacements that stepped up to the plate at relatively short notice. It was also an opportunity for some new leaders on the field including Monty Weatherall as Captain and Ed Griffiths as pack leader for the day.

Hertford RFC are the Hertfordshire County champions so we were aware that they are a competent side but rummaging into the bowels of the archives I can confirm that the last time our 2 teams met A&C won 1-0 with our try scorer being Harry Bradshaw. So this could be a little grudge match.

Both teams began strongly, attacking well whilst assessing their opponents. However, two tries were scored by Hertford in fairly quick succession as their strength began to show. A&C were not going to be down hearted about this and were determined to fight back. A scrum was won and the ball was sent down the backs to Blake who made a magnificent run down the wing to score our first try. A conversion by Monty made the score 7-12 to Hertford.

With injuries to Jack Gurney (calf) and Devan (groin) in the first half they were replaced by Jack Allen and James Churchman. Again, A&C used their skill and experience to move the ball quickly from the forwards to the backs which saw Zac receive the ball and with an excellent dummy pass weave his way through the Hertford opposition to score our second try. A&C were now leading 14-12.

Whilst A&C had held Hertford during the first half, the second half, uphill, was a different story. Hertford with a sizable set of players but one particularly quick back scored a series of tries, most of which were not converted. This resulted in a final score of 14-41 to Hertford. A few tackles were missed and Hertford had the advantage in the ruck, however what was apparent is that A&C never gave up and that’s really important.

Man of the Match as voted by the coaches – Matthew Bellamy

We are due a return fixture away to Hertford in the New Year, we look forward to that.

Lawson Shepherd