Villagers Remove Spines from Buoyant Hedgehogs.

A resurgent Hitchin side arrived in the village full of confidence after taking the spring out of Grasshoppers’ step.

With Adam Scanlon’s absence forcing Datchworth’s selectors into a further shuffle of the home side’s backline, the men in green had their work cut out to overcome the bristling hedgehogs. From the off it was a focused effort from the home side as Datchworth’s forwards carried strongly and half-back, Tom Wood, turning the Hitchin full-back, found touch in the visitors’ twenty two.

A sustained period of Datchworth pressure followed. Yet for all their territory and possession in the first twenty minutes, the men in green could not find the key to unlock the hedgehogs’ spiky defence and had to settle with a pair of penalties well converted by captain, Wood. As the half wore on the hedgehogs proved to be a thorn in the villagers’ side and deservedly registered their first points of the afternoon when Hitchin’s fly-half punished Datchworth indiscretion by kicking his team’s first points of the afternoon. Unperturbed, Wood rallied his troops and restored the villagers’ lead to leave the game delicately poised 9-3 at the interval with all to play for in the second half.

The men in green started the second half as they had the first with hard work in the forwards and a dominant set piece allowing captain, Wood, to once more convert a regulation penalty and establish a nine point lead over the visitors.

As the half wore on the home side’s squad, already depleted by an early injury to the ever-improving Billy Gatsfield, was to be sorely tested by a number of losses. With Rugby’s Renaissance man, Henry Mountain, completing his signature move from inside centre to tight-head prop, coach Ian Reid’s team begun to resemble a hotchpotch fifteen and it did not take the visitors long to take advantage of the homeside’s disorganisation.

Loose kicking from the villagers provided Hitchin’s outside backs with the opportunity to pick holes in the home side’s defence. A defence that had been expertly marshalled by Matt Winters became as porous as a colander as the visitors seeped through only to have their progress blocked by man of the match Joe Richardson, whose rear-guard efforts prevented an otherwise certain try for the visitors. However, even an inspired Richardson was unable to prevent Hitchin’s fly-half converting a penalty to reduce the villagers’ lead to 6 points with fifteen minutes to go.

With the deficit reduced to a solitary score, the Datchworth lifers occupying the John Morris bench would have been justified in calling for additional cigarettes to soothe their nerves as the game built towards a tense denouement.

Any fears on the sidelines that the villagers were once again going to throw away a significant lead against the hedgehogs were soon squashed as the green machine clattered into action in the final fifteen minutes. Led by number 8 Stuart Young, and despite a number of enforced changes, the Datchworth forwards began to overpower a Hitchin pack, who had competed fiercely all game, with some dominant tackling and muscular work at the breakdown. With the final whistle sounding, the villagers emerged victorious 12-6 after a bruising encounter against their northern neighbours.

Datchworth sweethearts throughout the village can breathe a deep sigh of relief going into Valentine’s weekend before coach Andy Riley and his men steel themselves for a visit to high-flying city-slickers Belsize Park in two weeks’ time.