Dominant Datchworth Pack Drive Over Streetonians

Datchworth recorded their first victory of 2015, as they hosted bottom of London North West 3 Old Streetonians on Saturday.

On a bitterly cold winters afternoon, a victory for the Men in Green only ever looked in doubt due to the ominous weather conditions, with the pitch covered in a light blanket of snow. But when the referee gave the go ahead for the game to proceed, Datchworth's superiority in the forwards, gave them a platform which gave the visitors little hope to gain anything from the game.

Datchworth made 2 changes to the side that lost to Stevenage, Billy Gatfield came in to the Second Row, whilst Tom Bennett replaced Sam Brunton at Fly Half due to injury, with Matt Blackwell making his First XV debut on the wing.

Despite the freezing conditions, the Villagers were too hot to handle in the first half, and within 10 minutes had a 7-0 lead when their immediate dominance in the scrum was seen. From 10 yards out, the Men in Green's scrum marched over the try line and Stuart Young had the easy job of falling on the ball. Captain Tom Wood converted.

Datchworth were relentless in the opening half, mainly due to a dominant set play, driving the Old Street scrum backwards time after time. And it wasn't long before they had doubled their lead, scrum half Wood picked a gap in a tiring defence, and converted his own try to take his personal tally to 9 for the match and the score to 14-0.

Again the home side marched back up the field, and with the final play of the first half, stand-in Fly Half Bennett saw a gap open up, and ghosted through to give Datchworth their third try of the game. Wood was unable to convert, but the score stood at 19-0 at the interval.

With Old Streetonians offering little resistance, it was more of a case of 'get the job done' in the second half for Datchworth, in what turned out to be a scrappy affair with little excitement. Old Streetonians did eventually get themselves a consolation try, which gave the Villagers slight motivation to run back up the pitch, and for Tom Blackwell to score a crucial 4th bonus point try, with the game finishing at 24-5.

Datchworth never looked in any danger of anything but a victory, and had weather conditions been different, may have put a more convincing score on the board. Nevertheless, coach Ian Reid will be delighted with the bonus point victory, and has the rest of the season to build on his young, enthusiastic side for a promotion push next year.