Century for Datch against Grasshoppers

Following last month’s poor weather, Saturday saw a rescheduled fixture with The Green Army hosting Grasshopppers. After a difficult start to 2020, Datchworth were looking for a result to get them back on track. This result came in quite some style, with the boys enjoying an emphatic 101-15 victory over the west London team.

Grasshoppers gained the early lead, taking full advantage of Johnson and Clapp’s heads being still in the changing rooms; some neat handling put their 13 in some space, and despite an excellent cover tackle by Nick Moore putting their man into touch, the Hoppers took their lineout well and found their way over the paint. 0-5, unconverted.

First team debutant Franco Guiseppe Caroleo was given a taste of first team physicality at the earliest opportunity, with one of the oppo putting in a clothesline strong enough to hang Bambi’s wet shorts on. Being dead in front of the posts, the coaches naturally brought on the kicking tee, to which young Ben Palmer looked at in disgust, replied ‘we’re not boring’ and slithered the ball into touch on the Hoppers' five. Big hand to youngsters Dom Negri and Connor Harris, both were all over Blackwell’s darts like dogs on hot chips. After some stumblin’ rumblin’ bumblin’ from the Datch pack, Young collapsed over the line in expert fashion. 7-5, kick slotted by Ben Palmer

Datchworth were beginning to find a bit of rhythm, with the green pack dominating the majority of the scrums and Stuart Young being as dominant as ever from the back of them. Some great carrying from our Colt powerhouses gained the boys metres after metres, and before long a nice bit of work from the back of a scrum put Watt in for the first try of his hattrick. 14-5 to the boys.

Alex Lloyd-Williams summoned his inner Sonny Bill, beating two defenders and leaving Clapp with a clear field ahead of him on the half way line. Big thanks to St John’s and their defib. 21-5, converted by Ben Palmer (shock).
Tom Johnson, Nick Moore and Tom Blackwell wanted to get in on the fun too, all scoring before the half time whistle. Tom Bennett felt a bit left out so he snatched the ball from Ben Palmer to make sure he ended the game with some points after successfully slotting some conversions. Grasshoppers adding a try of their own as well through hard carrying from their forward pack. Half time, 55-10.

The second half saw a similar story to the first, with the Grasshoppers beginning to struggle with their lack of substitution options. Now running down the hill, Datch started making some impressive breaks, none however more impressive than our very own captain Nick Gudgin. An aggressively flat pass from Palmer put Gudgin some space, followed by a 15 yard pass from the front row to hit Watt wide on the wing. Watt then drew the full back in and offloaded back to Gudge just inside the Hoppers' half. The Datch supporters took this opportunity to head to the bar, got served and came back just as Gudge entered the 22. As the oppo’s winger closed in, his footsteps must have spooked our captain, who went to ground on the five metre line – Gudge finishing early, no shock here.

Grasshoppers showed great heart, playing at some points with just 13 men on the field as a result of injuries, and managed to get over the line themselves in the second half. However, Datch managed to hold back the losing bonus point from the oppo, which could be vital come the end of the season.

The prolific Moore-Hankin duo once again complimented each other, with a hattrick of tries between them. 60 minutes in, Caroleo subbed himself off with cramp, but that’s 20 minutes longer than any other week - so big hand.

Watt finished his dinner twice more in the second half and things were really starting to open up. The youth in the Datch side relished the chance to run at some tired legs, with Ben Palmer finding a second half hattrick, letting his colt teammates do the dirty work whilst he did all the partying. Nonetheless, scoring 40 points in any game is not to be overlooked, let alone for the 1st XV, so congratulations and let’s get that right boot of yours insured. Man of the Match: Ben Palmer.

Whilst both sides had a plague of unavailability, massive hand to Grasshoppers for turning up and competing well with just 15 men. Still, a great club dub for the boys in green after a successful outing for the 3rd XV also, hopefully Datch can use this as some momentum to face Hampstead next week.

Big lovin’
G-Dawg x
#BleedGreen