Welwyn 32 Tring 23 - Herts Presidents' Cup First Round

A fantastic 32-23 extra-time win against Tring rocketed Welwyn into the quarter-finals of the Herts Presidents' Cup at the expense of their higher level opposition.

The Hobbs Way faithful were treated to a dramatic victory over the London Two North table-toppers after a rip-roaring display on Saturday. Tries from Grant Keeler and James Loughran saw the game finish 20-20 in normal time. Scores from James Turnbull and Simon Banks in the additional 30 minutes then sealed the win for the London Three North West side.

Welwyn suffered a setback before the match when centre Justin Joubert was injured in the warm-up. New signing Dean Storan, who normally plays in the back row, replaced him. Tring kicked off with the advantage of a strong wind behind them and were immediately on the attack. Their technically gifted forwards took play into the Welwyn 22, where the hosts conceded a penalty. Tom Newton kicked the easy goal from 20 metres out. The visitors then looked to ram home their advantage. Welwyn's defence was sucked in on the right as Tring spun the ball out to expose the space and wing Geoff Branwhite scored in the corner.

The home side were under incessant pressure and were forced to defend stoutly to avoid going even further behind. At one stage Tring looked certain to score, but an outstanding cover tackle by Andy Hawkins kept the Welwyn line intact. Peter Engledow's men started to come back into the game as Tring spurned the advantage of the wind by refusing to kick, instead trying to play a passing game. Powerful running from the hosts forced a penalty that Gareth Hughes stroked over to take Welwyn into the break 8-3 behind.

After the interval the home side used the wind to kick for position near the visitors try-line. From a lineout Welwyn moved the ball into midfield where Hughes passed to prop Keeler. He crashed over near the posts and Hughes added the extras to put the Hobbs Way club 10-8 ahead. The home side extended their lead to five points when Hughes kicked another penalty. Then Loughran ran strongly to dive over and take the score to 20-8.

With five minutes left Tring forced their way back into the game, capitalising on a series of errors that resulted in James Turnbull being yellow-carded. The visitors scored two quick-fire tries to tie the score at 20-20 and force extra time.

In the first period Welwyn were facing the wind and restricted the away side to just three points.The hosts launched a series of handling moves in the second half with backs and forwards linking well. Turnbull and Banks both went over and Hughes added a conversion to seal a dramatic and deserved Welwyn victory.

On Saturday Welwyn will entertain league leaders Ruislip in a crucial top-of-the-table clash at Handside. Kick-off is 2.15pm.