Following a long competitive season, the visit to Hertford delivered a match with more of a relaxed festival feel. An unusual mix of timekeeping resulted in an early kick off only shortly after the arrival of some of the players. No names, but also no prizes! Both sides had just enough to make a team, but this left some of the boys in positions they were not so familiar with.

Hertford started well and could have opened the scoring but for a knock-on close to the line. Instead it was Jake who put the first points on the board with a strong breakout from inside our half. He was quickly followed over by Lyle and Ben Underwood before Jake scored again following up his own kick. The most memorable action of the period though came from Tom and Will who both revealed their little known Italian heritage by blocking the scrum-half’s route to the fly-half behind uncontested rucks. It was very quick thinking from both boys as the crowd speculated the lack of contesting the breakdown might not have been an intentional tactic!

At 20-0, the first period came to an end and the boys grouped with confidence. OG’s took the field again but with the increased volume team-talk of the Hertford coach ringing in our ears. The foot was clearly taken off the pedal by OG’s in the 2nd period, and despite some desperate defence, Hertford pulled a try back and nicked the period 5-0.

Coaches RS and MBB borrowed some team-talk tips from Hertford before the 3rd period began. The effect was so noticeable that the forwards up their game so much that it allowed two OG’s to have a little chat together on the wing. Until coach Smith interrupted that is. As both sides lost a couple of players to knocks, space opened up, allowing Ben Underwood to return a kick from well inside his own half to score. But anything Ben could so, Jay could match and he weaved his way from one side of the pitch to score under pressure in the opposite corner. Jake brought up his hat trick before ben Mitchell streaked down the blind side to score. The forwards joined in the action with Jamie setting up Ronnie to break through the Hertford defence and make the score 45-5. The half century was brought up by Jay with the last play of the game as the backs linked well to create space for a try in the corner.

The final score could have been closer but OG’s marked the bigger lads well. Herford also came to regret their tactic to always attack on the side where Freddie was, leading to him hitting tackle after tackle and breaking their attacks down. In the first and third periods, we witnessed some excellent attacking moves with the ball being moved along the line quickly and accurately creating the space for the runners to score. In between, tackling around the pitch was strong allowing Hertford only a few half-breaks through the defensive line.

Despite a quieter middle period, the team played well overall and deserved a win in what could be the final match as under-13’s.