Men in Black: What sort of Cheese was that? As Saints sent packing back to Cathedral City.

Harpenden beat neighbours St Albans in a fantastic game of rugby at Redbourn Lane.  The report supplied by Harpenden Rugby from their website.

Harpenden 32 St Albans 28

In a week dominated by sports agents in the tabloids it was refreshing to see several club stalwarts produce a performance or note to settle this seesawing local derby.

An early Mark Kentish kick had allowed St Albans an early lead which their combative and forceful forwards play had merited. Prior to the points garnered by the boot of Kentish, Harpenden’s flanker, Ireland received a 10 minute sin-binning for not releasing the ball.

The Men in Black were struggling for any consistency or fluency, opting to run into the teeth of the St Albans ranks at the breakdown. St Albans then produced a fine back’s move which culminated in fullback Kentish crashing over out wide, following good hands from Howard and excellent running lines off the ball. With the score 8-0, and reduced to 14 men, Harpenden were facing the prospect of a difficult 20 minutes prior to half time. However, the home side regained their composure and produced a sublime 10 minutes of fluid irrepressible rugby.

A well-worked line out enabled the herculean figure of Chichester-Miles to make inroads into St Albans’ half, before quick ball, first to Tennant then to Kearns enabled Muskett to sprint away from the cover defense. His kick and chase attempt was thwarted by the St Albans wing, but the provider turned scorer as Kearns leapt on the loose ball, to bring Harpenden their first score.

 From the kick-off Harpenden produced several more moments of brilliance, with Kearns and Humphries slicing through, only to be felled at the last. A speculative chip from St Albans found the gleeful hands of Alan Barton, who, catching the defense flat-footed sped away from three tackles before off-loading to Smith. With the ball being kept alive despite the attentions of the St Albans defense, the ball found its way to Captain Tennant, who powered away from the cover, to score with aplomb under the posts. The conversion was added, and Harpenden lead 12-8.


As the embers of the 1st half began to fade the two teams reignited the fire with some inspiring pyrotechnics. St Albans quickly regathered their lead following two well-taken penalty kicks from Kentish, gently pushing the scores along to 14-12. Harpenden’s response was emphatic with Jonny Barton scrapping and fighting his was through 2 or 3 would-be defenders to score from just inside the 22. The finish was as good as the build-up play which owed a lot to Harpenden’s consistency at lineout time, Cornthwaite this time securing good, clean ball. Several phases of play, combining brute force with beauty, enabled a sliver of light on which Barton capitalized fully.

St Albans, stubborn visitors, began to find their feet for the fight, with Howard, Lane and Morette all gaining meters around the inside channels. Quick ruck ball from St Albans, and the visitors struck with precision, fly-half Howard delaying his pass to the on-rushing centre to crash under the posts for 7 points. The tries then began to flow, as attack favored defense in the closing 20 minutes. Newly svelte substitute Green used his dancing shoes and reach to out-strip two defenders to crash over in the corner. Harpenden regaining the lead yet again.

St Albans soon cancelled with a further score of their own, to again provide the spectators with some quick math to do. With St Albans in the box seat, and leading by 6 points Harpenden regained their composure to produce 5 minutes of excellent defense. The forwards, searching deep into their fitness reserves dismissed wave after wave of blue and gold attack, and under Jali’s kleptomaniac hands produced the turnover that gave Harpenden a chance to get back into the tie. From the turnover, Harpenden sent several runners into St Albans’ narrow channels, before substitute Payne threw a well-directed pass to the on-hand Kearns who turned on the gas to score from 40 meters.

The Men in Black’s tails were up. Harpenden’s forwards again produced some quick ball from which Tennant combined well with Barton, who wide angled pass found Smith. From the resulting ruck Kearns again turned provider to give Musket a chance to settle the tie there and then. The speedster turned on the gas and slid in at the corner, and following a consultation with the linesman awarded the score. Harpenden led 32-28. With St Albans having trying everything in their repertoire the referee blew his whistle on a pulsating fixture.

Team:

Jali, Tennant D, Blake, Macintosh, Cornthwaite, Peck, Ireland, Chichester-Miles, Humphries, Tennant J ©, Barton J, Kearns, Musket, Smith, Barton

Replacements:

Green for Macintosh (50mins), Payne for Barton J (65mins).