Datchworth Power Passed UCS

Datchworth visited UCS Old Boys on Saturday looking to make amends for their home defeat to Fullerians. And despite having key men Stuart Young, Matt Francis, Tom Bennett and Joe Richardson missing, the boys from Herts put in a dominant performance to win 38-22.

Datchworth came flying out of the blocks on a still, crisp Winters day in West Hampstead, and within the opening ten minutes had taken a 14-0 advantage. David Bartlett turned over an opposition line out and Henry Mountain made quick advantage of a disorganised home defence, breaking the line and after a quick interchange with James Watt, saw himself score under the posts. Captain Tom Wood converted. The Men in Green then marched back into the UCS half and again No.8 Mountain, replacing the injured Stuart Young, picked up from the base of the scrum to go over again. Wood again converted to make the game 0-14.

Datchworth stayed solid for the rest of the first half, with the ever present Marcus Potter and Nick Holland not allowing the UCS forwards an opportunity to progress up the field with some solid defensive work. Whilst in attack, Luke Bennett showed some promise of the turn of foot which led to his 1st XV debut, replacing his younger brother Tom in the back three. UCS managed to get a penalty just before the break but the visitors went in comfortably with a 14-3 lead.

The Villagers made a visible point of starting the second half strongly in order to put the game to bed, and it was James Watt with a touch of magic who opened up the scoring. A penalty inside the Datchworth half was taken quickly by Watt who showed electrifying pace to ghost passed the whole UCS team from inside his own half and score in the corner. Captain Wood had packed his kicking boots and slotted over the conversion from the touch line to take the score to 21-3.

The home side found themselves under increasing pressure to keep themselves in the game. Mistakes were starting to add up with Mark Holgate causing a nuisance to the UCS line out, and when they tried to force a pass from their own half, Lyndon Wainwright read the play, and intercepted to have an easy score for the villagers fourth and cruical bonus point. Wood again converted to make it 28-3.

UCS eventually mounted a sustained attack on the Villagers, and when Henry Mountain was sent to the sin bin, the Londoners made the extra number count with two converted tries in quick succession to take the game to 28-17 with 15 minutes still to play.

Datchworth returned to their full compliment, and their dominance shined through. The Men in Green powered up the field into UCS territory, and it was vice-captain Sam Brunton who went over in the corner for his first try in almost 3 years. Captain Wood maintained his 100% kicking performance to slot the conversion and take the game 35-17.

Datchworth controlled the next period of play, with strong ball carrying by front row Sam McBroom, and when a penalty was awarded, Wood slotted to make it 38-17. UCS managed a consolation try with the final play but it was too little too late as the game finished 38-24.