Hitchin Jaguars v Hertford ‘B’ Lost 5-10
The Jags first game was scheduled for 10.40 which left plenty of time to shake the loss of an hour from the player’s legs. The Jags reputation for a slow start was addressed as Jez and Brian warmed the squad up with a full contact 6 on 6 sessions. We knew we had to start well as the runner up of the group would have to face the might of OA’s B in the quarter finals to progress in the competition. This went for the opposition as well as Hertford came out with purpose. Alfie, Sid and Henry soaked up the initial pressure from a large physical set of Hertford forwards. Hertford won some good ball and moved it well into the backs. Freddie, Sam H, Harry and Daniel were all called upon in defence and made some decent tackles. Naomh also halted a breakout around the blindside to prevent a score. Sid made a couple of trade mark runs however Hertford’s defence was up quickly and tackled well. Henry worked hard in the loose mauling well and slowing any decent ball Hertford were able to secure. Alfie rucked well and Freddie had a few opportunities to run at the opposition but again the cover tackling of Hertford was excellent. The Jags had a few opportunities with some runs from Harry H and Daniel and Harry H nearly broke through following a decent pick up of a loose ball in the centre of the field by Sam H. Tom also put in some good tackles out wide as the half ended try less. The start of the second half did not go to plan. Hertford charged straight through the middle to score the opening try of the match 0-5. The Jags came back with a charge form Sid however he was stopped metre form the line. Hertford came back again with a well worked backs move and they had a very quick player who somehow outpaced the covering defence to score in the corner 0-10. The Jags heads did not drop and they started to play some good rugby. The forwards started to get win some ball which meant the backs could have a go. The defence stood firm and following a crunching tackle by Laurence he secured the ball. Freddie took the ball on and went into contact. Sam H moved in at scrum half and took the ball forward just managing to get a pass away to Daniel who weaved through to score 5-10. The Jags ended the game in the ascendency but unfortunately they ran out of time.
Hitchin Jaguars v Stevenage ‘A’ Won 20-10
As expected Stevenage fielded a large team. Sid, Stevie and Harry started the game in the forwards and competed well giving a good platform for the backs. The first try came from a well secured ball. Freddie made a good pass to Harry H who weaved through to score our first 5-0. Stevenage came straight back with a rampaging run and a few soft tackles let them in to level 5-5. Attack was the name of the game and Sid answered with a charge of his own to score the second 10-5. Stevenage again came back with a score on the outside in this end to end contest 10-10. The Jags had their fair share of the ball, however they could not quite get through. The Jags started to get organised in defence halting the larger runners before they got going and we went into the break all square. The second half saw a few changes and the momentum built up in the first half was maintained. The Jags maintained their defence and started to run harder and straighter at Stevenage. Harry G ripped a ball form a Stevenage player and secured the ball . A couple of passes later Daniel scored 15-10. Stevenage came back and the game started to get a little stretched. Stevenage tired time and time again to break out but the defence stood strong. The final try of the game came from a penalty following a brave tackle by Sam H who was pole axed by a leading elbow in the tackle. France ball was called and Daniel scored his second of the match 20-10. The Jags finished with a win however as they lost the first match OA’s B awaited them in the quarter finals!!!
QUARTER FINAL
Hitchin Jaguars v OA’s ‘B’ Lost 0-20
Despite trying to keep the fact that we had OA’s B to play quiet the word got out!!! We had played OA’s a couple of time this season but never the B team. Sure enough the OA’s B’s came out meaning business with the initial attacks coming through their strong well drilled forwards. Alfie , Sid and Henry did their best and competed well during the first period however it was not long before OA’s scored. The Jags went straight back at them with a run from Sid however the OA’s were tackling in 2-3’s which meant Sid was stopped. Henry and Alfie worked hard in the rucks but it always seemed to come out on OA’s side. Having secured the ball they launched their backs Freddie and Sam H pushed up well but OA’s were keen to get it out in the centre. Harry and Daniel tried their best to contain them and made some decent tackles but the OA’s offloading game was very good. Naomh and Tom were kept very busy out wide putting in a very good defensive performance but by half time the Jags were 0-15 down. Changes were made and Stevie and Harry G came on as did Laurence and Chris. Harry H came off and Tom moved into the centre. Andy gave the team a stirring talk at half time and the Jags came out with far more purpose. Stevie, Harry G and Sid were under a serious amount of pressure up front, they competed well, but we were always on the back foot. Freddie worked hard to pick up any scraps and tried to get us going forward. Time and time again OA’s put the ball out wide whether it was through the forwards or the backs. Tom, Freddie , Sam and Daniel put in some great work as did Harry G, Sid and Stevie but it was on the flanks where the OA’s were contained. Although Chris did not see much of the ball in attack he put in tackle after tackle and defended his channel well using the touch line to good effect. Unfortunately OA’s did break through for 0-20, however the effort and commitment in the second half was first class. One player who never gave the cause up was Laurence. He scrapped, tackled ,rucked, drove and ran at the OA’s for all of the second half which seemed to give the rest of the team a lift. The game finished with an exhausted set of players losing 0-20 but only conceding 1 try in the second half, was a fine effort. As expected OA’s B continued their route to the final and surprise, surprise beat OA’s C in the final…….
Scores 
League Tables