West London 8 Harpenden 22
The Men in Black’s team building trip to Brighton Beach on Saturday ended in a well deserved victory for the Redbourn Lane Men, by three tries to one. Harpenden ultimately dominated the fixture in the statistics side of things, having the lion’s share of territory and possession throughout. Harpenden, who suffered an embarrassing 12-9 loss to their hosts back in October, were keen to make amends from the outset, and a dynamic pack were glad they packed their flip flops for the game. Read and Graham combined on numerous occasions to pilfer West New Zealand ball, and starve the hosts of possession. An incisive break from scrum half Barton resulted in a carefully weighted chip from Muskett, which was gratefully collected and scored by Green, continuing his rich vein of form. Haddock added the extras and Harpenden had the bit between their teeth. West New Zealand fought back well, benefitting from some charitable decisions at the breakdown, but ultimately lacked the correct keys to unlock a meager Black defense, expertly marshaled by Jonny Barton. The diminutive centre belies his stature, and time and time again he punched holes in the home team’s defense, and snapped at the heels of home team’s attack. Opportunities were at a premium given the small logistics of the pitch, but Alan Barton evaded four or five would-be tacklers, only to see the chance pitter out. Kearns too, created inroads in midfield, enjoying some corrugating runs, which ultimately ended in disappointment. The half ended with a penalty a piece from West New Zealand’s kicker, and the show-pony boots of fullback Haddock.
HT 8-3
Some stern words by Coach Longdon at the interval focused Harpenden minds on the job in hand. And for 10 minutes of so, his words had a chastening effect on the game’s eventual outcome. Harpenden pounded at the West NZ line, first using the broad sword of Reed, Graham and Blake then using the rapier of Tennant, Kearns and Muskett. The crucial score came from some excellent but brutal close-quarter play from Tan Tennant and Dumbleton which led to space for Jonny Barton to crash over from short-range. The conversion fell agonizingly wide from Haddock. Harpenden’s insistence on rugby etiquette and general 1940’s comradeire saw West NZ come flying back into the contest. With Harpenden switching off after scoring the home side cleverly created space close to the breakdown, applying a well-worked offloading game which Harpenden failed to combat . A combination of excellent dexterity from the hosts’ hands and some charitable/non-existent guard defense allowed West NZ back into the fixture. That door was a little more ajar following the sin-binning of second row Dumbleton, allowing himself 10 minutes in the cooler for persistent infringement in the “red zone”. However, a piece of entrepreneurial skill from winger Smith, closed the fixture as a contest, as the fleet-footed winger applied his Roundwood-based footballing skills to kick and collect the ball three times over a 50 meter space. The conversion was duly added by Haddock and Harpenden were seeking the elusive bonus point. Tennant began to kick the corners and provide the Men in Black with a platform from which to score the crucial fourth try. But a combination of poor execution and poor luck befell Harpenden’s aspiration. Center Kearns, a thorn in West NZ’s side all day, asked both physical and verbal questions in the dying moments of the game, but lady luck failed to shine.
FT 22-8
Team;
Ledgwig, D Tennant, Blake, Dumbleton, Macintosh, Green, Graham, Reed, A Barton, J Tennant ©, J Barton, Kearns, Muskett, Smith and Haddock.
Subs; Peck for Ledgwig (60”), Cornthwaite for Reed (70”), Payne
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