DATCHWORTH RFC V GRASSHOPPERS RFC - SATURDAY 13TH NOVEMBER 2021

Datchworth 1st XV took another decisive step on the road to recovery in London 2 North West at home to Grasshoppers on Saturday with a hard-earned but ultimately comfortable victory by 16 points to 9. The forwards again competed well in the scrums, rucks and line-outs and played very effectively as a unit. Captain Stuart Young, James Hankin and Dom Negri were a dominant back row and managed to snuff out the threat from the lively Grasshoppers scrum-half and his No.10. Surprisingly, the backs were not quite as fluent as they had been the previous week in the narrow defeat to Streetonians, with a few more passing and handling errors than in the previous game. Tight defences on both sides made for a competitive but slightly dull first-half with the teams trading penalties, one for the Greens’ Tom Bennett and two for Grasshoppers, leaving Grasshoppers ahead 6-3 at the half-time whistle. Datchworth RFC Ladies, who had enjoyed a largely liquid lunch before the game, were hoping that their very vocal support for the lads would be better rewarded in the second half and so it proved, with senior man, James Watt, racing away down the wing to score an opportunistic but well-taken try. Grasshoppers responded almost immediately with a penalty, to leave the game evenly poised at 9-8 to the opposition.

Gradually but firmly, the men in green took hold of the game and, apart from one brief period after a yellow card, were never under threat for most of the second half. Again and again, the hard-working forwards re-cycled possession and the backs either probed forward or kicked judiciously to keep the ball in the opposition half. But the scoreline still made it anybody’s game until, with fifteen minutes to go, young scrum-half George Little saw a small gap and went through it like a knife through butter before evading three tacklers to score a lovely individual try. That left the score at 13-9 before Ollie Barnes, growing in confidence with every game he plays, slotted over a penalty from the right-hand side of the 22-metre line to leave Datchworth victorious, and the Ladies’ Section delirious. The team will have days when they play more fluently but it was a well-earned victory and the team and all their supporters (male and female) celebrated late into the night.

Datchworth have moved up another place in London 2 North West, above Hampstead and Hackney. After a difficult start, they are now looking forward with relish to their visit to Hemel Hempstead on 27th November.