It could have been yet another perfect day for A&C topped off with a visit to Derek’s new home at Harpenden. I arrived early along with Gibo only to find Derek dressed in his finest claret trousers and covering his Harpenden badge with his hand on his black waterproof jacket. ‘Goodness me fellas it’s grand to see you all’ he shouted with joy, before sitting down, pouring some tea from the pot and catching up on our news from Weedon Lane. He wiped a tear from his eye as he does miss us all very much indeed.

This was undoubtedly an eagerly awaited fixture and a match up A&C were confident in doing well in. Only last week both clubs had secured much-needed wins with the more established level 5 club in Harpenden having a tough time this season whilst the Chiltern newcomers still adjusting to life in the higher level with youthful optimism ever present.

Harpenden’s stand was not as busy as it was in the past although the acoustics were good enough to provide some much-needed vocal support to their local heroes. I ran the line initially on the oppo-site side from the stand - just in case unwanted opinions shared.

Sadly, I couldn’t avoid some heckling in 2nd half. It’s always the middle-aged men standing in a wee group. Bravery in numbers. I put that down to the undoubted pressure they were feeling and the fact they had nothing else to be concerned about. Amersham really did push Harpenden right to the end with a grandstand finish.

And so to the action - Harpenden struggled from kick-off and A&C mounted attack after attack. With a 50-20 kick and the Harpenden defence being easily dismantled for the first quarter it felt that an Amersham rout could result. Even with the first minute loss of the big 2nd row Mike Phillips A&C were fast and impressive. The scrum also survived although as time went by significantly Harpenden benefitted considerably from a dominant scrum and resulting penalties. These scrum gains turned out to be very telling.

Nevertheless, it was A&C scoring in the 10th minute with No8 Kazeem bundling over the line after sustained Amersham pressure. Tough conversion from Tom Fawssett hit the post. (0-5). Only 4 mins later and with Harpenden rocking on the ropes centre Noah Jarvis made the gains and comfortably cut through a weak Harpenden defence for an excellent 2nd try which was easily converted by Tom (0-12).
Against the run of play and with some good fortune Harpenden worked harder and managed to fight back with 3 tries in 18 mins. Only one was converted and one try resulting from a maul after a penal-ty kick from hand which was judged to have gone out of play within the 5 metre area. HT (12-17)

As usual the next score was important, and it was again big No8 Kazeem smashing through for A&Cs 3rd try. (17-17). On the 67th minute Harpenden against the run of play and with a spate of scrum penalties re- took the lead with a converted try (24 - 17). Again, though Chiltern responded silencing an anxious crowd and secured a well-deserved penalty try following sound mauling and cynical defence. Yellow card - cooler time and all square (24-24_ with all the play for. Sadly, though Harpenden played it safe with 2 penalties towards the end from scrum penalties. Saved at the last.

Another home return fixture to look forward to as we strive to survive.

Next week is a weekend off followed by a vital home match against Bedford Athletic. Harpenden have beaten Bedford and therefore we will do the same - surely……. See you there

Team - 1. Raz Dranca 2. Joe Batt 3. Charlie Swerling 4. Harry Bradshaw 5. Mike Phillips 6. Mike Everett 7. Josh Finch (C) 8. Kazeem Olayinka 9. Ben Harris 10. Alex Bower 11. Tom Fawssett 12. Noah Jarvis 13. Dan Kingsley 14. James Morrison 15. Ben Pothecary 16. Doug McGregor-Smith 17. Andrew Toole 18. Jack Green