HEMEL HEMPSTEAD RFC V DATCHWORTH RFC - 27TH NOVEMBER 2021

Datchworth travelled to Hemel Hempstead on Saturday with high hopes after their improved performance over the last month but on a cold, wet and windy day Hemel eventually came out on top. The men in green played against a stiff wind in the first half but defended well to limit Hemel to a converted try and a penalty until just before half-time, when a blatant knock-on was missed and the Hemel left-wing evaded the Datchworth defence to score in the corner. Thus 10-0 became 17-0 and Datchworth had a mountain to climb in the second half.

To their great credit, they almost pulled it back. Early in the second half, scrum-half Tom Wood stole down the blindside to score in the right-hand corner (after feeding Pumbaa one of the most clear cut hospital passes) and converted his own try from the touchline to make it 17-7. At this point Datchworth were very much in the ascendancy with the forwards disrupting the Hemel scrum and winning plenty of ball at the rucks. However, the Hemel defence stood firm until 20 minutes into the second half when young centre Ollie Barnes made a scything break from the 22-metre line to score under the posts. Tom Wood converted to leave the match delicately poised at 17-14.

At that point, two things happened – first, the Datchworth captain, Stuart Young, had to leave the field with a serious shoulder injury; and secondly the lively Hemel backs stopped making handling errors and put together some sweeping moves into the wind. It took just a couple of defensive lapses by the men in green for Hemel to score two tries in the closing ten minutes of the game and, although one of them was unconverted, Hemel ran out deserved winners at 29-14, leaving Datchworth to rue another game lost which should have been won.

However, they continue to compete strongly in every match and must fancy their chances of a home win against Hackney on 4th December.