Welwyn’s first game after Christmas was a challenging fixture against league leaders Belsize Park in the lovely surroundings of Regent’s Park. An excellent playing surface and still, cold conditions promised much and both sides did not disappoint the hardy supporters.

Welwyn started very brightly, dominating possession and territory in the early stages. They were rewarded after 6 minutes with a penalty for a high tackle with the offending Belsize player spending 10 minutes in the sin bin. Full back Chris Kemp confidently knocked the penalty over and the visitors led 0-3. Five minutes later Welwyn scored the first try of the game. Another penalty for a high tackle was kicked to the corner and a well-executed catch and drive from the lineout resulted in Conor Boland crashing over from close range for an unconverted try.

It was then Belsize Park’s turn to use the catch and drive from a lineout to good effect on three occasions. The first resulted in a try from a lineout from 5 metres and the second was driven fully 25 metres by the rampant home pack. Just as it looked as if they would repeat this after 35 minutes, Belsize moved the ball quickly to the right for their winger to score in the corner and extend their lead to 17-8.

Welwyn responded well by winning the ball from kick off. Great support play by Dave Wells, Josh Milton, Dan Comben and Conor Boland took play deep into Belsize territory and the ball was then spun wide for wing Aaron Chandler to race into the corner. From the kick off, a lovely balanced run from Phil Grehan took play deep into the Belsize half and desperate defence resulted in another yellow card being shown to the home side. The half time whistle came with Welwyn right back in the game at 17-13 down.

Belsize regrouped at half time and dominated the majority of the second period. They notched their bonus point try with another catch and drive from a lineout after only 3 minutes and the conversion took them into a 22-13 lead. Fifteen minutes later, a penalty in front of the posts extended their lead to 27-13, but Welwyn were still in the match with a chance of a least a losing bonus point. The last quarter of the match, however was one-way traffic. Despite the efforts of the outstanding Dave Wells, a tiring Welwyn side could not match the physicality and pace of the home side, who showed emphatically why they are top of the league and favourites for promotion. Injuries to Ben Solez, Grehan and Boland did not help the cause, although replacements Ollie Di-Lieto, Dan Atkinson and Ben Skinner performed well in difficult circumstances. Welwyn conceded four tries in the last 20 minutes including a 95 metre interception in the last play of the game and Belsize went back to the warmth of the changing rooms with an emphatic 51-13 victory.

On the positive side, Welwyn can take credit for having held the league leaders for three quarters of the game, but will need to move on quickly from this defeat as they face second place Harpenden at home on Saturday.