The first semi-final of the county shield competition saw Hitchin Academy u18’s host Hertford u18’s in a close fought tussle last Sunday.
The match was fairly slow paced from kick-off and neither team seemed to get a grip of the game for at least twenty minutes. Scrum after scrum in the first quarter quickly sapped the energy out of both forward packs on an already blustery day, as the amount of set pieces showed the number of mistakes made by both sets of players.
The first score went to the home side with Simon Taylor bursting through from twenty metres out. The windy conditions meant Number eight Josh Stallard came close but couldn’t convert the lead to seven. The Hitchin forwards continued to exert pressure with a solid scrum on the 10 metre line allowing Ruiri Shanahan to charge over for his first try of the game. Hertford fought back straight away and scored a try after some well worked phase play. Hertford were awarded a penalty in front of the posts and took the points. The first half finished 10-8.
The second half saw Hitchin stretch their lead scoring a further two tries from Robert Austin and the second from Ruiri Shanahan. Peter Stanbury defied the windy conditions and converted one of the tries. Final score 22-8. Hitchin wait to see whether they face Letchworth or Fullerians in the County Shield Final.
Team Ellis Lockyer, Peter Stanbury, Harry u18s Murphy, Daniel Grainger, Brandon Whates, Calum Dow, William Smith, Joshua Stallard, Daniel Wiggins, Harry Cartwright, Simon Taylor, Ruiri Shanahan, Bailey Burton
Subs Jake Brooker, Robert Austin, Oliver Pomfret, Hem Johal, Daniel Barnes, Tom Fry, Jim Panter
Scores T: Ruiri Shanahan (2), Simon Taylor (1), Robert Austin (1)
C: Peter Stanbury (1)