Datchworth shown a lot of interest at Bank

Bank took quick advantage of an uncertain start and scored a try within the first few minutes giving the boys in green the wakeup call they perhaps needed.

The first half was a tight competition at times but the home side really were singing from the same hymn sheet and executed their attacking play extremely well with quick rucking, off-the-shoulder off-loads and running angles which wrong footed a blitz defence on more than one occasion.

Bank of England were racking up the points and scored a number of tries in the first half and Datchworth only managed one from Dan McGuire who beat several opponents to find space and time to dive over for Datchworth’s first points of the game.

Datchworth rather disappointingly went in at half time 33-5 down.

The home side started the second half as they finished the first with attacking flare and positive running, but Datchworth were slowly organising their defence and started to look threatening in attack. Although Bank scored a couple more tries, with 15 minutes on the clock Datchworth started to show some confidence and against all odd scored three additional tries to achieve a losing bonus point.

First it was Ben Briffett who was on the end of a series of strong, flat passes which sucked in Bank’s defence allowing him to run through at an angle and touch down. This was followed up by a try from Tom Bennett which came from the back of a strong scrum and involved several of the backs in a move reminiscent of something from the training ground.

The fourth and final try for Datchworth was scored with the last touch of the game. Wave after wave of Datchworth forward pressure allowed for Sean Nicholson (Scrum half) to pass to returning Back Tom Wood who offloaded to Matthew Francis who found an acute angle against the line of attack to split the defence and power through a couple of last ditch tackles to achieve the bonus point needed. The try was duly converted by Sam Brunton.

The game ended 42-24 and Datchworth clearly have a lot to work on, particularly on away form. Having said this, in a team with an average age of 21, they showed great heart and determination to get the fourth try in the dying seconds in order to secure the bonus point and never showed signs of resignation.