St Albans 31 – 31 Datchworth

Nearing the end of the season, often games have a tendency to disappoint though this wasn’t the case on Saturday in St Albans in a try-fest. It was the home side that took an early lead, sloppy defending / kick chase led St Albans to running in a try from half way – Datchworth guilty of missing a few tackles. This however seemed to kick Datchworth into gear and they scored a try of their own, no8. Henry Mountain powering in under the posts to level the score at 7 a piece after fly half Tom Wood added a conversion. St Albans then scored two further tries, well worked backs moves on both occasions (and a few missed tackles) saw them take a 12 point lead. Datchworth, never a team to give up, managed to get a try back before half time, this time it was wing Richard Mills with the dancing feet that saw him dive over in the corner, 19-14 at half time.

The second half was much like the first with a further five tries. Datchworth scored the next try, this time Tom Wood scoring with an interception to bring it to three tries a piece. St Albans quickly followed with their forth to retake the lead and secure the bonus point, before the ball found its way to Henry Mountain off a first phase lineout move. He cut through the home defence and saw Datchworth level up once again. Datchworth then took the lead for the first time, wing James Watt pouncing in the corner, the extras not added. Just when Datchworth thought they’d won the unpredictable match, some lax defending allowed St Albans to get their fifth and the spoils were shared, three points apiece, which all in all was the fairest result.

This Saturday sees Datchworth travel to rivals Hitchin, a game that is very important to Hitchin as their league status may dependant on it. Then, a week Saturday is the Herts Tankard final at Allianz Arena, Datchworth versus Stevenage with a 1.30pm kick off.