3rd Team v Letchworth Rugby Club 3 XV - Away Friendly on 19 Mar 2011

LETCHWORTH 3 XV 0 - HITCHIN 3 XV 45

On a day that wouldn’t look out of place in the middle of summer and a day when flip flops were able to be dusted off for the first time in 2011 Hitchin took to short journey to Letchworth for a friendly match. Although our opponents were in the next town it was strange that it seemed to take Christian Frisch and his merry bunch of passengers almost 30 minutes to get there.

The game started the way it continued to the final whistle, Letchworth received the kick off offloaded to their main threat player and he was quickly taken to ground.

Hitchin managed to get into their stride instantly with the ball being passed through the backs and also with Mr Benucci at 9 he was able to get the forwards involved at the breakdowns.

The first two tries came from Karl Brooks who was instrumental in his new position of centre. The link between Benucci, Frisch and Brooks seemed to enable overlap after overlap and these opportunities were taken with devastating accuracy.

The first 25-30 minutes saw Hitchin 19-0 up with Benucci carving through the defence like a hot knife through butter (or sharp knife through a spicy meatball). Benucci also added to his tally with two conversations in the first half. Another almost try came from Andy Lockley who was popped a short ball from Benucci just outside the Letchworth 22 and burst through the defensive line only to be caught up a few centimetres from the line.

The second half was drawing to close when winger Joe Horder ran in to score. Horder was also through minutes earlier but was stopped with an illegal shoulder barge.

Throughout the first half Brooks & Horder were tearing up the pitch from wherever they received the ball and weaved through the defence with ease whenever they were in possession. This constant yard gaining enabled the team to support these players and make sure the offloading in the tackle was frequent and also make sure the game continued to flow.

Before the second half got underway the team talk lasted 30 seconds with every player performing well they just needed to maintain this level in the second half. The team were then involved in an oncoming players introduction with a "what’s your name and where do you come from" session to be introduced to Ian "vajazzle" Thomson who was making his debut for Hitchin having crossed codes from rugby league and a reintroduction to Ciaran Barry who returned to Hitchin following a 6 year absence.

Barry's reintroduction lasted a few minutes when a try scoring run was thwarted a yard from the line by the Letchworth full back and Barry tried to copy Tom Croft v Scotland last week but in doing so he managed to dislocate his shoulder.

The second half was pretty much a carbon copy of the first, with Hitchin creating chance after chance and there were times when it could have been a cricket score.

The team were as solid in defence as they were in attack and the endless support in the breakdowns enabled Hitchin to be as free flowing as possible.

A break from just outside Hitchin’s 22 meant Joff lord tore down the wing at run / trundle only to stop near Letchworth’s 22 after being caught by both Letchworth’s backs and a fear of the unknown.

The second half tries came from Sam Underwood who was inspirational all game saw a mismatch at the base of the scrum to pick up and score. A Dave King try capped off a great performance by the whole team, however Keiran Barringer wasn’t finished and capitalised on a spilt pass by the Letchworth 9 to dribble the ball a la Ryan Giggs to score.

A very good team performance and every single player shone not only in match performance but also in the glistening sun.

The front row of Turner, Lockley and Edwards ensured a solid platform at every scrum and also ensured all of our own line outs were won and also took a few from Letchworth. Hobbs and Pankhurst (Barry in 2nd half for a few minutes) in the second row added extra umph to every scrum and line out and were always involved in the breakdowns or the play from those breakdowns. Back row of Thomson, Underwood and Joff gained yards with every run and were solid in defence. The backs of Benucci, Frisch (and D King), Brooks, Barringer, Burton & Horder were top class in attack and defence throughout the game (as mentioned above).

Man of the match Sam Underwood tackled anything that moved and shut done any Letchworth threat almost instantly.