CHESHUNT-36 v WOODFORD-21

A game of many firsts!!

First time playing a full on 15 a side game under under floodlights.
First time playing at Cheshunt on their amazing 4G pitch.
First time visit to Cheshunts amazing new clubhouse, what facilities, wow.
First time playing where the linesmen were radio linked to the ref!!
First time I have ever witnessed so many people drinking HOT tea before & after a game!
First time this season that I had to wear several layers, but yet was still frozen!!

But most importantly of all the first try in a competitive match for our very own SIMON COOK, who nearly got decapitated in the process!!!

Ultimately we were given a bit of a lesson in how to defend by the Cheshunt boys, it all started so well as we played the first 15 minutes encamped on the Cheshunt try line, where attack after attack was held at bay until Simon broke through to score his try.

From that point on it was a more one sided affair as Cheshunt cranked up the power, they had two particularly big and strong lads (Owen would testify to this after he got bounced about 4 meters backwards by one of them!) who caused utter carnage, they also had a couple of really fast players who we just could not compare with. On top of that Lewis had to leave the pitch whilst he was throwing up, and Henri & Cade also received knocks and were not feeling 100% which all added to our woes, half time score was 17-7 which seems a tad harsh considering our early possesion.

Second half was a very similar pattern to the first, we shuffled a few players around, Rory left the field after a knock, Ben Sharratt went to scrum half, Matthew Unwin replaced Lewis at fly as Lewis dropped into the centre, and for a while this looked to pay dividends as Matt put a grubber kick through for Lewis Walcott to burst through the Cheshunt line to score, quite inventive and excellently executed. Matt converted the try. Owen Morris also got on the score sheet again converted by Matthew Unwin, but between both our scores Cheshunt also scored twice, and added a third as our tackling seemed to just disappear. Again we held a lot of position on the pitch and did indeed spend the last 5/10 minutes on the Cheshunt line again but they held resolute and stopped the Woods from scoring.

I have nothing but praise for our hosts, a friendly welcome, excellent facilities, a very good group of players and a match played in the best of spirits, I would also like to say a BIG thank you to all of you who attended, it was a bit of a task to get to Cheshunt for 7pm on a Friday and myself and all the coaches really appreciate all your efforts, especially considering the weather!!!