1st XV
Matches
Sat 26 Mar 2022  ·  London 3 North West
Cheshunt
27
5
St Albans Rugby Club
1st XV
Tries: T Webb
Saints left Stag-gering after heavy away day loss

Saints left Stag-gering after heavy away day loss

Libby Healey28 Mar 2022 - 20:37
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Saints loss away to Cheshunt means Welwyn is a must win

The Blue and Gold travelled to Cheshunt on Saturday with a 5 win from 5 consecutive outings record, with expectations that a 6th victory would place them in a strong position to achieve promotion with a home fixture against Welwyn RFC next week: The final game of the season.

On a sunny afternoon with temperatures in the high teens, and on the all-weather pitch, St Albans started well. Despite the pack looking dominant in the opening exchanges, Cheshunt backs always looked threatening and it was an attack from inside their own half that saw them get close to the Saint’s line. The ball came out from the resulting ruck and was passed along the Cheshunt backs only for No 10 Stephan Harding to be judged to have deliberately knocked-on an attempted interception. He was shown the yellow card and Cheshunt took three points from the penalty just in front of the posts. This proved to be a turning point as Cheshunt took full advantage of the extra player and within 8 minutes had notched up two converted tries and taken a 17-0 lead. During this phase, Saints lost hooker, Harry Atherton, with a recurrence of a shoulder injury with Luke Tyson replacing him in the front row.

The return of Stephan to the pitch saw St Albans settle down and start to play some good rugby, rewarded soon afterwards with No 8, Tom Webb scoring an unconverted try . No further points were added, and the half time score stood at 17-5 to Cheshunt.

Cheshunt started the second half well and began to break and find gaps in the Saint Alban’s defence that had been so resolute up until then. The home side scored another converted try and a penalty to take the score to 27-5 and despite one of their players being red carded for a dangerous tackle on Ash Willing, Saints could not come back from a 22 point deficit and the final score remained at 27-5.

A disappointing result for the Blue and Gold, but a well-deserved victory for Cheshunt. Credit must go to Ash Willing for continuing to stay on the field despite suffering an injury to his right leg early in the second half that clearly impeded his play. St Albans will need to re-group and recover from several injuries before the final match of the season at home against Welwyn RFC next weekend. The game will be preceded by a club lunch and will no doubt be played in front of a large crowd swelled by away supporters hoping that a win will see Welwyn RFC promoted. Saints will no doubt have other ideas!!

Thanks to Dave English for the report.

Match details

Match date

Sat 26 Mar 2022

Kickoff

15:00

Competition

London 3 North West

League position

3
Cheshunt
6
St Albans
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Club Sponsor - Lister Interiors Ltd
Offical Charity Partner - East & North Herts Hospitals Charity