Datchworth 10 - Welwyn 24 16th December 2006

A glorious blue sky greeted the two teams on this second encounter of the season. There was a slight wind blowing down a pitch that was downright boggy in places. Datchworth played the first half with the slope in their favour and the sun and wind at their backs. They started off in lively fashion and from the kick off, pressurised Welwyn and within three minutes had scored a well worked try and conversion to give them a 7 point lead. Welwyn, with new signing Justin Joubert joining their ranks at centre, recovered quickly and made several forays up the pitch into the Datchworth half. Datchworth were warned by the referee for persistent infringement and finally tried his patience too far and had a player yellow carded. At the ensuing scrum, Welwyn pushed the Datchworth pack backwards and were awarded a penalty try when a Datchworth player dived onto the ball while it was still in the scrum and before it was over the try line. Gareth Hughes converted the try to bring the scores to 7-7. Datchworth took the game back into the Welwyn half and were awarded a penalty, which they converted to give them a 10-7 lead. As usual, the Welwyn forwards put unrelenting pressure on their opposition and always looked dangerous. Welwyn hounded the Datchworth line and were unlucky not to be awarded a try when the ball was taken over the line but was deemed not to have been grounded. From a scrum five metres out, Dave Orton picked up the ball and it was passed along the backs for Peter Elliott to score a well worked try. Gareth Hughes converted to bring the half time score to 14-10.

Welwyn had the advantage of the slope in the second half and the sun at their backs. Within ten minutes, a good move from the backs resulted in a well taken unconverted try for Doug Jones. Shortly after, Rob Picken was replaced by Iain Ward. Welwyn continued to put the pressure on Datchworth and after about 15 minutes of the second half Simon Banks barrelled his way over for an unconverted try to bring the scoreline to 24-10. Luke Williams replaced Doug Jones and Welwyn continued to keep the play within the Datchworth half. Welwyn dominated the first twenty minutes of the half and displayed some much improved handling among the backs, together with some excellent interplay with the forwards, with Grant Keeler in particular getting involved in several good attacking moves. As always, Simon Banks irritated the opposition by winning several balls against the head. William Freeston was the final substitution, giving Robert Muggridge a break half way through the second half. Although Datchworth never stopped trying to get back on level terms with Welwyn, the final twenty minutes of the game degenerated into a rather dour and uninteresting contest as the players struggled to keep playing on the very heavy, waterlogged pitch. Welwyn players’ Man of the Match was Peter Elliott.

Both teams now have a two week break over the Festive Season with Welwyn starting the second half of the season with a home match against Enfield Ignatians on 6th January 2007.

Welwyn Team:

Jonathan Child (Full back), Peter Elliott (Wing), Doug Jones (Wing), James Turnbull (Centre), Justin Joubert (Centre), Gareth Hughes (Fly Half), Mark Cullen (Scrum Half), Robert Muggridge (Prop), Simon Banks (Hooker), Grant Keeler (Prop), Mark Harris (Second row), Rob Picken (Second row), Rob James (Flanker), Owen Hopley (Flanker), Dave Orton (No 8).

Substitutes: William Freeston, Iain Ward, Luke Williams.