Emphatic Stevenage win is Datchworth's worst ever defeat

A disastrous afternoon for Datchworth as they were subjected to an embarrassing 11-try rout by local rivals Stevenage Town.

Still missing the midfield duo of Rice and Nolan, Datchworth started the stronger of the two sides and were on the offensive from the kick off. A 10m attacking scrum tested the home side's defence but a knock on from greens gave Stevenage a chance to clear their lines.

Stevenage hit straight back and worked their way into Datchworth's territory. From here Crompton had his first of many breaks, but was well tackled by Nick Moore. Quick ball however put a Stevenage front row in under the posts and Datchworth were trailing 7-0, as Max Stannard left the field with a blood injury. Datchworth were severely lacking in back replacements and had few options - flanker Marcus Potter played out the rest of the 80 on the left wing.

Ten more minutes passed with Datchworth defending well, but another try soon came out wide as the home side stretched the defence. Two more tries under the posts followed within minutes of the second; Gareth Lewis taking a direct route and Michael Wilson rounding the defence out wide to run in unopposed. 26-0 with as many minutes gone.

From the restart Wilson was again in space but Datchworth were saved as he spilled the ball. He grabbed his second on the stroke of half time as a rushed tackle created a huge overlap for him to go over in the corner.

The 31-0 half time score was a wake up call for Datchworth, but they were unable to move up a gear. Stevenage scored again, in the corner for a 36-0 lead with 35 minutes remaining.

The second half continued to be a mismatch and Wilson recorded his hat trick early on, beating three tackles on the touchline to glide round to score under the posts.

Datchworth briefly began to play some rugby, and had a couple of attacks with runs from Holgate, Bennett and Richard Mills but with no reward. With Stevenage on the offensive again, a clearance kick was collected midfield and Crompton danced in under the posts. The conversion made it 50-0 with plenty more to come.

Missed tackled continued to cost Datchworth ground, and Stevenage were in no mood to let up. Two more tries and two Lewis conversions boosted the score to 64-0 with 15 minutes left.

The next ten minutes saw Datchworth retain possession and push forwards. They managed to create two try-scoring opportunities, both involving full back Nick Moore; firstly with a break on the left wing, beating Wilson on the outside. Cover came across from Crompton with Wilson in support, and Stevenage won the resulting lineout. Datchworth regained possession and Brunton's cross field kick gave the second opportunity - both Moore and his opposite number diving on the ball simultaneously, again no joy for Datchworth.

With Stevenage deep in their own 22 Crompton zig-zagged through three tackles to create a two-on-one, but opted to go alone and finished a good try. The conversion sailed over for 71-0. With seconds on the clock Wilson kicked through looking for his 4th of the day, but the ball went dead. The last play saw Stevenage spread the ball wide and they looked set for their 12th - only for Holgate to make a last ditch tackle.

Datchworth here on the wrong end of a very one-sided match, but 71-0 could have been a lot worse if not for Stevenage's carelessness with ball in hand.

Next week the greens travel to Stowmarket as they try to progress in the RFU Senior Vase.