New lights shine but Saints left chasing shadows!

On bright December afternoon St Albans had chosen this fixture to unveil their new floodlights, it was scheduled to be an afternoon of celebration for the home side, but HAC had other ideas.

From the outset HAC showed their intent and within a few minutes of kick off had established a seven point lead with a well worked try and conversion. Saint's responded almost immediately with the pack showing tenacity and drive which culminated in a forwards try that Harry Trude converted.

The visitors were not going to allow this situation to last for long and demonstrated their fast running skills and quick hands to allow their winger to go over in the corner for an unconverted try. With just eight minutes gone HAC had the advantage with a 7 -12 lead.

The game now settled down as both sides tried to assert themselves and it was St Albans who scored the next points when on 21 minutes they secured a lineout deep in the HAC half. Chris Jones won the lineout ball, the Saint's pack set themselves for the drive and trundled unflinchingly toward the HAC try line, the visitors were unable to stop the momentum and Saint's scored their second try which went unconverted. Honours were now even at 12 - 12.

HAC then moved up a gear with fly-half, Alex Crouch becoming more influential as the game progressed. The visitors added a penalty and an unconverted try to reach half time with a 12 - 20 lead.

From the restart HAC maintained the quest to increase their lead and it wasn't long before they had a penalty kick which gave them a further 3 points.

St Albans had to get back into the game and again their forwards rose to the occasion when from a scrum, they drove the opposition back and powered over the HAC line for an unconverted touch down. Saints were now back in touching distance with the score standing at 17 - 23.

The visitors sensed they needed to put this game to bed, and following some incisive running and handling they scored their fourth try, the conversion was missed but they had an eleven point lead at 17 - 28. It looked as though Saint's were going to get nothing from this game apart from trying out the new floodlights.

St. Albans rallied and put extensive pressure on HAC, but their defence held firm, until that is the ball came to Saint's hooker Brent Lemiere who split their line with a run and score that left defenders in his wake. From a St Albans standpoint it gave the fans something to cheer about and with Harry Trude's conversion, two bonus points which may prove precious later in the season.

Final score: St Albans 24 - HAC 28

St Albans showed considerable resolve to keep in the game but the were always playing "catch-up", the forwards provided a solid platform but Saint's need a playmaker in the backs to give them a cutting edge. Man of the Match for St Albans was Brent Lemiere for the second consecutive game.