Hemel Hempstead 70 – 30 Datchworth RFC

Hemel secured promotion to London North West 2, though were given a stern test by local rivals Datchworth on Saturday. Datchworth welcomed Henry Mountain at Centre for his first start of the season and even more exciting, Flanker & former Captain Matt ‘Rambo’ Francis for his first start in over 2.5 years as he returned from a long term injury.

Keen to impress from kick off, Datchworth did the complete opposite. Hemel securing their own kick, they recycled quickly and a missed tackle saw them in under the posts after 18 seconds, Datchworth 7-0 down. Back they game, Full Back Richard Mills knocking over a penalty. Datch then took the lead, Scrum Half Tom Wood stealing the ball and offloading to Mountain who bundled over the line to give the visitors the lead, Mills converted. Hemel then scored their second before Nick ‘Horse’ Holland intercepted and trotted 15 metres. Winger Matt Blackwell was on hand to support and Datchworth took the lead for a second time after Blackwell finished smartly. Hemel then won the ball again from kick off, rumbled up field and spread wide to the Hemel No 8 who finished well. Hemel then secured the bonus point before the half and took a 28-17 lead. Datchworth still had time for one more try, a well-timed pass from Fly-Half Tom Bennett found Mills who sliced through the Hemel defence and he was in under the posts. Mills converted, added a penalty before half time and just before the whistle, Hemel Hooker & Captain saw yellow for back chat. Half time 28-27 to the hosts after a manic half.

Datchworth took advantage of the 14 men of Hemel, won a penalty and were 30-28 up after 50 minutes, Mills slotting his third penalty in a row. It was then Datchworth’s turn to drop to 14 men, Winger Alex Mills adjudged to knock-on on purpose when attempting an intercept. This gave Hemel the advantage they needed and they soon scored two tries in quick succession, 42-30. From here, fitness levels started to drop for Datchworth and with Hemel’s injection of energy from the bench, things went from bad to worse for Datch. In all, Hemel ran in a further 4 tries, 10 in total (all converted) to give them a well-deserved victory and promotion.

Datchworth can take a lot of heart from their performance and the return of Francis & Mountain. With no game this Saturday, next Saturday sees Datchworth host Finchley, 3pm kick off