5th straight win for the greens

Datchworth ran rampant against their London 3NW opposition on Saturday, with a flurry of late tries in the second half.

Despite Datchworth taking an early lead through a Tom Wood penalty, Cheshunt soon pulled it back to 3-3 following a good break from Louis Mulholland at scrum half. The Greens continued the early pressure, Sam Brunton’s distribution from fly half making good use of both Rice and Nolan running tight lines. Cheshunt’s defence held firm but the first try came from a mis-timed clearance, gifting Datchworth a lineout on the 22m line. With clean ball taken at the from by Young, hooker Tom Blackwell made good yards to set a solid platform – Bennett the recipient of the wide ball to put Jack McDonald through in the corner.

Cheshunt came straight back and looked to work upfield, number eight Alex Brown gaining most yardage. A sublime kick from the Chesunt prop was well dealt with at the back, and following a box kick Datchworth were fortunate to get away with some messy rucking in midfield and cleared their lines from a penalty. With both sides looking solid in defence, an altercation resulted in two yellow cards – Nick Holland for Datchworth and Mulholland for Cheshunt. The home side were soon over for their second, with Wood making a break from the lineout.

The home side had two more clear opportunities before the break; but as Nolan’s bullet pass found touch instead of Watt’s outstretched hands, and a penalty saved Cheshunt from a huge overlap, Datchworth had to settle for another 3 points through the boot of Tom Wood to make it 16-3 on the stroke of half time.

A scrappy affair at the restart, Datchworth cleared but Cheshunt’s counterattack was swift, and wide. Watt managed to ground the ball for a 22m drop out. Forcing Cheshunt back into their own half with good carries from the forwards – half time replacement Dan Blackwell and second row Mark Holgate in particular – the greens were soon on the scoresheet again. Dylan Rice went over to finish a superb individual run, ignoring the shouts on his left as he cut through from the halfway line, back inside and under the posts. Wood slotted his first conversion of the day to make it 23-3.

Datchworth soon made a couple of changes; Sam McBroom and Richard Mills both back in action for the first time since January as Wood sent another penalty in between the uprights.

McBroom was soon in the action as he tried a kick through, much to the amusement of the spectators. The loose ball was gathered by Holgate who charged forwards with support from Young. Brunton spotted a run from Nolan, who looked to go alone before handing Bennett a back-of-the-hand pass for his 11th of the season, crossing wide and finishing under the posts for the bonus point try. Wood slotted the kick and Datchworth were over again from the restart, James Watt coming in from his left wing and swallow diving under the posts; Wood sending the conversion over to bring up the 40 points.

Holgate made more yards at the restart, and again in midfield. Any reports of a sidestep are unfounded. Nolan was soon off on another run and gifted Rice his second of the day with a simple pass out wide. Wood added the extras, the last points of the game, as Datchworth closed out the final ten minutes for a resounding win.

Next week the greens travel to Verulamians and will want to make amends for a 33-5 defeat in the first outing of the campaign.