Datchworth Blown Away in Second Half

Datchworth went into 2015 full of optimism after beating Welwyn prior to the Christmas break, and feeling refreshed and ready to make a push up the London North West 3 table. Hackney visited the Village for the opening game of the year, with the teams virtually level on points, but with Hackney having comfortably got the better of the Men in Green earlier on in the season.

With howling winds blowing up the pitch, Datchworth captain Tom Wood won the toss and elected to have the blustery conditions in the home sides favour for the first half. A perfect start occurred for the hosts then, when Sam McBroom broke the Hackney defensive, and after some French styled offloading by McBroom and Stuart Young, left an easy run in for John Scarratt to score under the posts. Wood converted and Datchworth had a 7-0 lead.

As the half progressed, it was clear Datchworth had the upper hand in the scrum, with new lock partnership David Bartlett and Nick Holland powering the Men in Green forward. Yet, it was Hackney who dominated the line out, which led to captain Wood opting for goal from the two penalties within the position territory. Both were slotted at Datchworth had a 13-0.

The Villagers continued to drive up the field, looking to make the conditions count, but when the Hackney Fly-Half read Stuart Youngs offload, he intercepted and ran the length of the pitch to give Hackney a crucial score going into the break, 13-5.

Datchworth knew the second half would be 40minutes of defending, with the wind behind Hackney, and a ever reliant line out to make use of. But the Men in Green defended their white line valiantly, and it wasn't until 60mins when Hackney finally broke through, and converted to take the game to 13-12.

With 10minutes remaining, Datchworth managed to get possession in the Hackney half, after a break from Tom Bennett, but with the ever-difficult conditions against them, eventually the ball was turned over and the East-Londoners managed to clear up field. A period of intense physical contact was then contested, with Hackney battering down the Datchworth defensive door, and with seconds to go, they eventually fell over the line to give them a smash-and-grab 19-13 victory