Campion vs Welwyn Players Match Report

Enfield Ignations 16 Welwyn Garden City 22

Welwyn were under no illusions as to the size of the task facing them in confronting Enfield on their home soil. There last defeat at home was nearly a year ago. The meet time was 11:45am and after a few late arrivals (the sock was grateful for this) it quickly became apparent that the players were focused on the job in hand.

After arriving at the ground with plenty of time to spare the squad enjoyed some banter with each other before changing and starting the warm up. This is where the joking stopped, the warm up was controlled but intense with the players confident but respectful of their opponents.

So to the game……

Enfield held a lunch before the game so there was plenty vocal support for the home side, however Welwyn also brought a fair size crowd, that the players appreciated From the kick off Enfield started as men possessed with the forwards charging on to pop passes, this continued for ten minutes until the pressure finally told and the fly-half kicked a penalty. Almost immediately from the restart Welwyn conceded a silly penalty that the 10 again kicked from a distance. Up to this point Welwyn had not held on to the ball for long enough to exert their style of play on to the game. However things started to change when the Enfield 10 decided to kick long instead of out of play. From one such kick Cullen fielded the ball and passed to Jonno who linked with Frankie; almost through the gap Frankie passed to PJ who came on an angle and was tackled where Enfield killed the ball. Gareth struck the resulting penalty 6 – 3.

Then some misfortune for Welwyn a midfield attack from Enfield went wrong and the ball was dropped forward, the Welwyn backs stopped playing expecting the whistle but it did not come and the full back linked to the winger to score under the posts the 2 points was duly kicked. Again Welwyn came back strongly with the set piece starting to gain the ascendancy a penalty was kicked by Welwyn to make the score at half time 13 – 6.

Peter gave some stern words to his players at the turn around pointing out that we were playing to their strengths and to lift the tempo. Almost immediately Welwyn were on the front foot and managed to convert a penalty to bring the score to within 4 points. Then the turning point of the match, Enfield kicked to the corner and with their reputation as one of the best packs in the league was confident of driving over. However, I doubt they have played against a pack like ours. Magnificent defence prevented wave after wave of Enfield attack. Something had to give and Welwyn conceded a penalty that Enfield kicked. Although Enfield had scored some points it wasn’t the 7 they craved and Welwyn were still in the game 16 – 9. Welwyn went on the attack and again Enfield conceded a penalty which they kicked 16 – 12. After a missed attempt at goal Welwyn were awarded another kickable penalty this time Dave Orton elected to put the ball in the corner. From the resulting lineout the forwards edged to the try and line where Dave Orton peeled off the maul and barged over the line. Gareth kicked the conversion to make the score 16 – 19 with ten minutes left. The remainder of the game was spent in midfield with Enfield attacking and Welwyn constantly turning over the ball. Welwyn did manage to get into the opposition 22 and managed to kick another 3 points to take the score to 16 – 22.

At the full time whistle there was a sense of relief but also a huge amount of pride. It was generally accepted that not many teams will leave Enfield with points. No real stand out players, everybody tackled their hearts out and gave a commanding team performance. Dave Orton’s decisions were exemplary and the pack again showed itself to be the best in the league. The backs defended heroically and when the opportunity arose caused problems in attack.

So the Welwyn band wagon moves on to next week with a home game against our local rivals Datchworth, who I am sure, will be eager to put a stop to Welwyn’s unbeaten run.

Gareth Hughes