Welwyn vs Haringey Match Report

NINE TRIES FOR WONDERFUL WELWYN

Welwyn 52 Haringey 3

A young, vibrant Welwyn team took to the field of play against Haringey, led by new captain Dave Orton. Sporting the traditional club colours of maroon and white hoops to commemorate the club’s 75th season, the team lined up with Gareth Hughes at fullback, Peter Elliott and James Turnbull on the wings, Luke Williams and Jonathan Child in the centre, Louis Richards at fly half, Yourgos Alexander at scrum half, Dave Orton at No 8, Rob James and Rob Picken as flankers, Mark Harris and William Freeston as locks, Julian Emery and Grant Keeler as props and Simon Banks as hooker. Coach Peter Engledow’s intensive fitness training programme for the players throughout the summer paid dividends as Welwyn ran out easy winners of their first League game of the season.

With the weather conditions perfect for open, running rugby, Welwyn continued their pre-season success at the Welwyn 10-a-side tournament with some sparkling and co-ordinated play to entertain a good crowd on the sidelines.

Welwyn made several forays into the Haringey half in the first twenty minutes of the match and were dominant in the scrum but were unable to score any points and in fact the first points went to Haringey when they kicked a penalty to give them a 3-0 lead. Welwyn again moved play into the Haringey half and a wonderful pick up by Dave Orton led to a try and Welwyn’s first points of the day. The conversion attempt was missed. A potential pushover try was deemed to have been held up and Welwyn were awarded a scrum 5 metres from the Haringey line. A fabulous individual break by Louis Richards saw him scamper over for Welwyn’s second try after 35 minutes, which was converted by Gareth Hughes to bring the scoreline to 12-3. Good handling in the backs led to James Turnbull running across the field and passing to Peter Elliott for a well worked try. Good support play by the forwards lead to Haringey being penalised for offside and Gareth Hughes kicked a penalty to bring the half time score to 20-3.

Welwyn kicked off the second half with James Powell on for an injured Rob James and within three minutes Welwyn won a lineout in the Haringey 22 and Mark Harris crashed over for a well taken try to take the score to 25-3. Welwyn kept the pressure on and Rob Picken, supported by James Powell, set up a ruck from which Mark Harris made a break, passing to Peter Elliott for his second try of the match to bring the score to 30-3 with 15 minutes of the second half gone. A good strike by Simon Banks against the head at the scrum enabled the ball to be passed out to Jonathan Child, who crashed over for a try, bringing the score to 35-3. Twenty five minutes into the second half, Doug Jones made a return to the first XV for an injured Peter Elliott. Haringey continued to compete in all quarters of the game but superb defence by Welwyn and superior fitness meant that most of the play was in the Haringey half of the pitch. Good support play by Julian Emery enabled him to storm over for another Welwyn try, bringing the score to 40-3. The conversion attempt was charged down by Haringey. Julian Emery was substituted by flanker Tom Jankowski, resulting in William Freeston moving to prop. Another good lineout resulted in Grant Keeler charging for the line but the ball was held up and a 5m scrum ensued, from which Haringey were awarded a penalty. With five minutes to go, Yourgos Alexander made a lovely break from the scrum and sprinted for the line to score his first League try for Welwyn. A missed conversion left the score at 45-3. The last try of the match was a wonderful individual effort by Captain Dave Orton, who sprinted down the pitch to score close to the posts. Luke Williams converted the try to bring the score to 52-3.

This was one of the best displays of rugby by a Welwyn team for a long time and bodes well for a successful 75th season. Welwyn play London New Zealand away next Saturday and face Imperial Medicals at home on 23rd September.