Datchworth 27 – 12 Stevenage

Datchworth made hard work of playing local rivals Stevenage, falling 12-3 behind before Stevenage succumbed to the home side’s mix of strength & accuracy. With an early 12pm kick off due to the World Cup semi-final, Datchworth still looked half a sleep as Stevenage took an early lead. Busting through the heart of the defence, Stevenage Centre Ian Crompton soon ran in under the posts. Datchworth returned with a penalty of their own pretty quickly (Tom Wood with the honours), though Stevenage scored their 2nd try of the game in the 21st minute. A strong forward off-loading game saw their No 8. break through, brush off a few tackles and get over the whitewash – leaving Datchworth 9 points down. With no further points in the first half, there was still time for Stevenage’s inside centre to be sin-binned for head-butting a Datchworth player.

Datch’s team talk from coaches Ian Reid & Andy Riley worked wonders as they scored almost immediately after half time. Good scrum pressure led to the forwards bombarding Stevenage’s line, eventually Flanker Stuart Young busted through the line to score his first try of the season, though you wouldn’t have thought it as he struggled to break a smile. Wood added the extras.

Datchworth then scored a second. Again, scrum time pressure lead to Scrum Half & Captain Tom Wood sniping through and getting in under the posts to give Datchworth the lead – 17-12. This seemed to really invigorate the hosts, even allowing for Fly Half Sam Brunton to go on his first carry of the season, a run that saw him cover almost 6 metres in total. 5 minutes later, Full Back Tom Bennett went off injured with a damaged shoulder, Grant Roe the replacement. Stevenage were offering a lot of pressure, though surrendered a further 3 points when prop Sam McBroom won a penalty at the breakdown for the Stevenage player not releasing, ending up in three points for Datchworth.

There was still time for one final try, a dashing run from Craig Rowlinson saw Datchworth storm up the field, the ball finding its way to Tom Blackwell who bundled over the line, securing a well earned victory. This Saturday is a rest week for Datchworth, after which will see them visit Grasshoppers.