TABARD 10 Welwyn 28 – London
League2 North
Tabard
played Welwyn at home on Saturday and at half time looked as though they may
just be good enough to snatch a win, having pulled back from
a 10 points to nil deficit to 10 points all. However, it was not to be and Welwyn played strongly in the second
half to score more points and eventually beat the Radlett side by 30 points
to 10.
Welwyn were
just above Tabard
in the table and this was a good chance
for Tabard to strive for some more league points but on the day Tabard found they did not
enjoy enough good possession and were unable to make the necessary
inroads into Welwyn territory.
Welwyn
started the faster side and Tabards
defence was sorely tested from the outset and eventually cracked after 10
minutes when the Welwyn number 8, Hawkins, went over after Welwyn had won a
succession of second phase ball, stand off Hughes converted. After this Tabard settled down and began to
piece their game together with Ed
Orchard at fullback and centre Michael Thomas putting some forceful running
together but Welwyn went further ahead when Tabard were caught offside and
Hughes kicked the penalty.
As the half
progressed Tabard began to
get back into the
game and the first reward
was a long range penalty converted by centre Jack Reilly. This was followed by a good try. From Tabard pressure wing Neil Hopcroft made
good ground and then kicked through the
cover defence for the other wing Dan Ashcroft to pursue at pace and touch down
for the try which Reilly converted.
The second
half started with Tabard piling on the pressure but their luck ran out again. This time a long penalty attempt by Reilly
was just wide but in
kicking it he became injured and had to
leave the field. Tabard had another
penalty just after but Ashcroft’s long attempt was just wide as well and from a
position strength Tabard became vulnerable.
At this point
Welwyn kept their cohesion and although Tabard defended well with
good tackling, especially from number 8 Scott Stoba and Thomas, Welwyn’s
superior possession began to tell and
they went ahead with a try from flanker Hopley and a penalty from Hughes before
finishing off with a good try from wing Coughlan, to complete another
unsatisfactory result for Tabard.
Team: Orchard, Hopcroft, Reilly (Callum 42m),
Thomas, Ashcroft, Woodard, Karstel, Davey, Gates, Baker, Crocker, Visser,
Montagu, Wyatt and Stoba.
Next week
Tabard have a week off with no league games.