Sunday, May 29, 2005
Hertfordshire win County Shield Final
North Midlands 13 Hertfordshire 20
Hertfordshire won the County Championship Shield on their first senior appearance at Twickenham on Sunday beating North Midlands 20-13. But it was a close run thing. Hertfordshire dominated the first half and should really have scored more than the 13 points they had on the board at half time. North Midlands fought back in the second half and it was a nail biting finish as Herts, with a man in the sin bin, defended heroically to maintain their 7 point lead.
Once again it was the Hertfordshire pack, led from the front by skipper Dave Hesketh, that laid the foundation for success. The scrummaging was formidable and in the loose Hertfordshire dominated the driving maul. All this gave good possession to the backs, who particularly in the first half played, an expansive game and but for two or three last gasp knock-ons would have given Hertfordshire a substantial lead by half time.
From the kick off Hertfordshire showed their attacking intentions and a good break by fly half Richard Manion followed by the first forward drive of the afternoon caught North Midlands off side. Rob Colbourne kicked confidently and Herts were 3 points up after five minutes. Twice Hertfordshire ran the ball from deep in their own territory, with Colbourne showing good pace, but first Hesketh was tackled short of the line and then a knock on denied Herts a score. After 20 minutes, the Herts pack disrupted a North Midlands scrum, won the ball and Manion found a gap to score. Colbourne added the conversion. Hertfordshire dominated the rest of the half and strong running from Luke Sloan and further breaks by Manion set up scoring positions but twice knock-ons denied a score. However Hertfordshire got their reward just before half time when, after they had won a scrum against the head, North Midlands were penalised during the subsequent attack and Colbourne made it a 13 point lead at the break.
North Midlands put Hertfordshire on the back foot straight from the restart, when they ran a poor Hertfordshire clearance from deep in their own territory. This attack was stopped just short of the Herts line but quick recycled ball resulted in flanker Stephen Halbert touching down. The next 10 minutes were pretty even and when Herts were penalised at a scrum, Ollie Thomas closed the gap by another 3 points. Almost immediately a penalty for offside handed Hertfordshire a chance to take the ball quickly with John Sayers muscling his way up to the try-line. The lock could not get over the line, but scrum-half John McDonough switched the run of play out-wide for Manion to set-up Ray Adde who scored under the posts. Colbourne struck the conversion to put Hertfordshire 20-8 clear.
20 minutes were left and North Midlands did not give up. They put the pressure on the Hertfordshire line and a series of penalties by the defenders tested the referee's patience with the result that replacement prop Richard Bromham was sent to the sin bin. North Midlands ran that penalty and the next one and were finally rewarded when right wing Toby Wilson scored. 15 minutes were left on the clock, but a number of injuries meant that a considerable amount of time would be added on. North Midlands continued to apply pressure, but the Herts defence held. No sooner than Bromham had returned to the fray, another penalty against Hertfordshire resulted in a yellow card for Mark Sharpe. Around 5 minutes of time added on remained. The ball was scrambled back over the Herts line and a 5 metre scrum conceded. The seven man Herts pack put in a tremendous effort, drove North Midlands off the ball and the line was cleared. A few more moments of desperate defence and then the final whistle. Hertfordshire had deservedly won 20-13.
Winning Hertfordshire captain David Hesketh said: “This is a great end to the season for the county. We have won the final and won promotion and next season we will look forward to taking on the big boys in the County Championship. Considering we only have 20 clubs to draw from by comparison to other counties I think we have done very well. Personally for me to be at Twickenham lifting a trophy for a second time this season after winning the Powergen Intermediate Cup with Hertford this is a great thrill.”
North Midlands captain Duncan Hughes added: “Hertfordshire came out of the blocks better than we did and we gave away a lot of cheap ball. On the balance of the first-half they deserved it but they also defended outstandingly well to keep us out at the end.”
Hertfordshire: Rob Colbourne (Tabard); Ed Coy (St Albans), Ray Adde (Hemel Hempstead), Luke Sloan (Tabard), Joe Shaw (St Albans); Richard Manion (Hertford), John McDonough (Hertford); Brent Green (St Albans), Tavita Faamausili (Letchworth), Luke Hardwicke (Hertford), John Sayers (St Albans), Peter Coke (Tabard), Alfie Church (Hertford), Dave Hesketh (Hertford) (Capt), Ian Hardcastle (Westcombe Park).
Replacements: Mark Sharp (Luton) (Faamausili 52m), Peter Moulton (Barnet Saracens Elizabethans), Ed Orchard (Old Albanian), Richard Bromham (Tabard) (Hardwicke 58m), Dan Phillips (Ampthill) (Sayers 75m), James Tirrell (Letchworth), Richard Woodard (Luton).
Hertfordshire won the County Championship Shield on their first senior appearance at Twickenham on Sunday beating North Midlands 20-13. But it was a close run thing. Hertfordshire dominated the first half and should really have scored more than the 13 points they had on the board at half time. North Midlands fought back in the second half and it was a nail biting finish as Herts, with a man in the sin bin, defended heroically to maintain their 7 point lead.
Once again it was the Hertfordshire pack, led from the front by skipper Dave Hesketh, that laid the foundation for success. The scrummaging was formidable and in the loose Hertfordshire dominated the driving maul. All this gave good possession to the backs, who particularly in the first half played, an expansive game and but for two or three last gasp knock-ons would have given Hertfordshire a substantial lead by half time.
From the kick off Hertfordshire showed their attacking intentions and a good break by fly half Richard Manion followed by the first forward drive of the afternoon caught North Midlands off side. Rob Colbourne kicked confidently and Herts were 3 points up after five minutes. Twice Hertfordshire ran the ball from deep in their own territory, with Colbourne showing good pace, but first Hesketh was tackled short of the line and then a knock on denied Herts a score. After 20 minutes, the Herts pack disrupted a North Midlands scrum, won the ball and Manion found a gap to score. Colbourne added the conversion. Hertfordshire dominated the rest of the half and strong running from Luke Sloan and further breaks by Manion set up scoring positions but twice knock-ons denied a score. However Hertfordshire got their reward just before half time when, after they had won a scrum against the head, North Midlands were penalised during the subsequent attack and Colbourne made it a 13 point lead at the break.
North Midlands put Hertfordshire on the back foot straight from the restart, when they ran a poor Hertfordshire clearance from deep in their own territory. This attack was stopped just short of the Herts line but quick recycled ball resulted in flanker Stephen Halbert touching down. The next 10 minutes were pretty even and when Herts were penalised at a scrum, Ollie Thomas closed the gap by another 3 points. Almost immediately a penalty for offside handed Hertfordshire a chance to take the ball quickly with John Sayers muscling his way up to the try-line. The lock could not get over the line, but scrum-half John McDonough switched the run of play out-wide for Manion to set-up Ray Adde who scored under the posts. Colbourne struck the conversion to put Hertfordshire 20-8 clear.
20 minutes were left and North Midlands did not give up. They put the pressure on the Hertfordshire line and a series of penalties by the defenders tested the referee's patience with the result that replacement prop Richard Bromham was sent to the sin bin. North Midlands ran that penalty and the next one and were finally rewarded when right wing Toby Wilson scored. 15 minutes were left on the clock, but a number of injuries meant that a considerable amount of time would be added on. North Midlands continued to apply pressure, but the Herts defence held. No sooner than Bromham had returned to the fray, another penalty against Hertfordshire resulted in a yellow card for Mark Sharpe. Around 5 minutes of time added on remained. The ball was scrambled back over the Herts line and a 5 metre scrum conceded. The seven man Herts pack put in a tremendous effort, drove North Midlands off the ball and the line was cleared. A few more moments of desperate defence and then the final whistle. Hertfordshire had deservedly won 20-13.
Winning Hertfordshire captain David Hesketh said: “This is a great end to the season for the county. We have won the final and won promotion and next season we will look forward to taking on the big boys in the County Championship. Considering we only have 20 clubs to draw from by comparison to other counties I think we have done very well. Personally for me to be at Twickenham lifting a trophy for a second time this season after winning the Powergen Intermediate Cup with Hertford this is a great thrill.”
North Midlands captain Duncan Hughes added: “Hertfordshire came out of the blocks better than we did and we gave away a lot of cheap ball. On the balance of the first-half they deserved it but they also defended outstandingly well to keep us out at the end.”
Hertfordshire: Rob Colbourne (Tabard); Ed Coy (St Albans), Ray Adde (Hemel Hempstead), Luke Sloan (Tabard), Joe Shaw (St Albans); Richard Manion (Hertford), John McDonough (Hertford); Brent Green (St Albans), Tavita Faamausili (Letchworth), Luke Hardwicke (Hertford), John Sayers (St Albans), Peter Coke (Tabard), Alfie Church (Hertford), Dave Hesketh (Hertford) (Capt), Ian Hardcastle (Westcombe Park).
Replacements: Mark Sharp (Luton) (Faamausili 52m), Peter Moulton (Barnet Saracens Elizabethans), Ed Orchard (Old Albanian), Richard Bromham (Tabard) (Hardwicke 58m), Dan Phillips (Ampthill) (Sayers 75m), James Tirrell (Letchworth), Richard Woodard (Luton).
