Datchworth 3 - 5 Finchley

The forced winter weather break that had seen no rugby been played in London North West 3 for three weeks was all but too apparent in Datchworth on a sunny but chilly afternoon. Both teams started slowly and rustily, frequent changes of possession through errors and a lack of tempo amongst the men on the pitch was most frustrating. It wasn’t until about 20 minutes in that the game sprung to life, a barrage of Datchworth pressure led to them breaking the deadlock. The arduous work of the Green front eight led to the visitors inevitably giving away a penalty equidistant between the posts and the right touchline. In a swirling wind, Fly Half Tom Wood stepped up and slotted the kick through the middle of the sticks. Finchley followed up with a pressure period of their own and an impressive offloading game by the forwards led to them thinking they had scored under the posts, only for it to be ruled out by the referee for a last gasp forward pass.
On the stroke of half time however Finchley took the lead. Momentum had seen them march into the hosts 22, and the Finchley fly half managed to steal a gap in the Datchworth back line that saw him break through and casually offload to the Finchley Winger for the only try of the game. The second half was not the most entertaining affair. Although feisty, no team managed to cross the whitewash, leaving Datchworth with a losing bonus point and Finchley above them in the table.
Datchworth play host to local rivals Welwyn on Saturday and are gunning for revenge following their narrow defeat earlier in the season.