Datch U14s fall to Hertford A in County Cup Semi Final

We were hosted by Hertford A's this week to play the Cup game that was delayed from the previous week due to the snowy weather, although with the amount of sledging going on during a feisty encounter, you could be forgiven for thinking it was still snowing this week!

We were expecting heavy traffic up front with Hertford boasting a strong pack, and the lads were prepared and eager to get in their faces early to stop any attacks building. Line speed was excellent, and the tackle rate was superb by every man on the pitch. However, some of that eagerness at the ruck was deemed to be too early in some cases, and after 7 minutes Hertford were awarded a penalty in front of the posts for an offside infringement, which they duly kicked over to get the scoreboard going.

There then ensued 10-15 minutes of dogged rugby in both attack and defence, and Datch were finally rewarded for the combination of up front grunt getting us quick ball, and then a lovely combination of passes between Will Field, Josh Staddon, Will Goff and finally the long arms of Matt Cox to touch down in the corner to make it 3-5 to Datch. The touch line conversion attempt by Danny had a perfect line, but was just short, and after some further fine displays of defensive tackling from the restart, we went into the half time break with the slightest of leads.

After just 3 minutes of the second half, Hertford came back at us, but once again we put in some heroic tackling, but after what we felt was a wrong decision to allow a tackled player to get back up and then form a maul, they crossed the line to make it 8-5 with the missed conversion. Once again we then had another 15 minutes of play where there was nothing between the two teams, and both were attacking and defending with huge intent, putting their bodies on the line time after time. After 20 minutes however, through sheer exhaustion on our side and continued pressure from Hertford, they finally broke the green wall to take only their second try of the morning, which was this time converted to finish the game 15-5 to get them through to the Final.

While naturally disappointing for all the boys, the coaches and parents were immensely proud of the performance they put in today, and it's clear that we have come on so far this season, particularly with our defence and sheer doggedness to never give in. All that remained was for captain Will Grovestock to name Man of the Match, but while both Benjy and Will Goff were mentioned in dispatches for their tackling, ultimately the whole team shared the honour, for their togetherness, spirit and sheer determination with which they played in their biggest encounter of the season so far.