Datchworth move closer to safety with important win against Hitchin

In a fixture that is never easy for either side, the villagers started very strongly with the lion’s share of possession, territory and attacks. Even with Hitchin a man down – the over-zealous Dale Baines seeing yellow - individual errors kept the score at 0-0 for the first quarter until young prop Tom Austin powered over for his maiden senior try.

Hitchin defended with good aggression with Datchworth concentrating on keeping the ball. Dylan Rice and Alex Nolan tried to punch holes in the centre, but it was winger James Watt who came closest to increasing the lead having been given space out wide, but a fantastic cover tackle from Southward.

With half an hour on the clock, Datchworth tried again to move the ball quickly, Brunton finding Bennett who had cut a good angle to join the line. He carved the defence in two, and despite not being known for his pace, beat two men before cutting back inside to break through another gap. Just before being tackled short of the line, he got the offload away to Nolan who arced round and finished under the posts. Wood was successful with the conversion for a 12-0 lead.

Hitchin came back and kicked for territory – rewarded with a penalty in front of the posts; 12-3. From the restart, forwards and backs linked well and they looked to be clean through – however the referee brought play back for a forward pass. Reprieve for the greens at the halftime whistle.

The home side rang the changes during the break; Nick Moore, Sam Thornton and club stalwart Henry Mountain, fresh from long-term injury, replacing Davies, Austin and Dawson respectively.

Knowing their tendancy to surrender a lead, Datchworth were eager to increase it early on in the second half. With pressure on Hitchin’s defence, a clearance kick was charged down for Sam Thornton to have a rumble towards the line. Winger Watt, level on tries with Bennett this season, was screaming for the cross-field kick which has served the villagers well so far this year. Brunton duly delivered with pinpoint accuracy. Watt was odds-on for the score, arms already in bucket formation, but seemingly from nowhere Bennett intercepted with a superb catch, grounding the try as the two green men collided. Wood couldn’t add the extras in the breeze but a 17-3 lead looked well deserved.

The villagers started to play with a little more flair as they hunted down the bonus point, and it has to be mentioned that second row Nick Holland was doing his best Mike Catt impersonation with ball in hand. With Datchworth entering Hitchin’s 22, Brunton threw a miss pass to Holland, who tipped on to Nolan, who in turn left Nick Moore with acres of space – alas the Hitchin defence once again timed the tackle perfectly.

Wood added a penalty for a 20-3 lead, before Datchworth went up another gear.

Another Nolan turnover put Henry Mountain into a gap and he made a good 60 yards, before a mis-timed offload gave Hitchin a scrum. Time away from rugby looks to have done wonders for his hands and legs, but perhaps not his vision – nevertheless the return of Mountain is one Datchworth are certainly glad to see. The Greens soon regained possession and Nick Moore again found himself in space, this time going over for his side’s 4th, and a 25-3 scoreline.

Hitchin came straight back, with a well worked forwards try – and Nolan seeing yellow for a high tackle.
14-men Datchworth struggled to string together any attacks and leaked another try just before Nolan returned, reducing the lead to 25-17, with Hitchin showing that never-say-die attitude.

Back to full complement Datchworth couldn’t muster any more points but managed to retain possession for the remaining 10 minutes, as they played out the clock for a very important bonus-point win.

With St Albans piling on the points at Old Merchant Taylors’, next week’s visit to Oaklands Lane is another key match in a league where no game can be called ‘easy’!