Match Report Verulamians Vs Barnet Elizabethans, U15s Welwyn and Vees vs Hitchin
Verulamians 0 vs 58 Barnet
After last weeks tough loss away at Wasps, Vee’s looked to regather themselves with a fierce home battle against local rivals Barnet who were sitting top of the league. A crowd largely strengthened by a VP lunch just before we’re hungry for success for the men in blue and yellow.
It was a fierce encounter from the first kick off with Vee’s managing to hold off the early pressure from Barnet weathering numerous phases of attack which ultimately led to Barnet winning a penalty. However, their nifty fly half missed the first of many kicks when he pushed this penalty wide.
The mighty Vee’s looked to establish themselves with James Ryan fielding some great kicks and returning eagerly looking to find any gaps in Barnet’s defence. After Barnet turned over on half way they managed to use an overlap and quick hands to dot down in the corner. After another period of attack Barnet managed to score again off of a cheeky kick in behind our defence allowing their winger to slide into Cotlandswick corner.
For the remainder of the half the Vee’s struggled to retain the ball and Barnet managed to use their skilled backs to dot down three more tries before the break despite the fierce defence from the Mighty Vee’s.
Vee’s started the second half with much more intent and through some creative attacking kicks we managed to find ourselves camped down in Barnet’s 22. Unfortunately, Barnet managed to win back the ball after numerous phases just shy of their try line which was a great disappointment to the bustling crowd on the sideline.
With this key turnover the momentum shifted and Barnet looked to put this game to bed with a succession of tries off the back of some good ball movement between the team. Despite a courageous effort from the Vee’s the match finished with Barnet winning by 58 points. Nevertheless the Vee’s stood proud and knew this was all part of the rebuild of this team which would ultimately make us better!
U15s Welwyn and Verulamians 12 vs 12 Hitchin RFC
A pulsating and hard fought encounter saw the newly formed Welwyn and Vees side go from strength to strength with a bright future for this group of players.
After going behind early with an unconverted try the WVs continued to fight with a strong forward line and strength in the scrums, eventually Alfie scoring a try down the centre of the pitch which he duly converted with the kick.
In a really tight encounter the Hitchin side went ahead again, however, this time converting the try with a kick down the centre of the posts. The WV forwards continued to keep the game tight and powering through the centre of the pitch, until eventually the ball found itself out wide and with blistering pace Rhys burst down the outside of the pitch, and no one could catch him as he went over the line to score the try. The ball went down at quite a tight angle and facing into the wind it was a too difficult task to convert. Both WVs and Hitchin played their part in a brilliant game.
Player of the match went to DJ, and captains award to Joe for his tough tackling, and coaches pet to Jack for carrying out the coaches instructions. However, it was a truely great team effort!