Herts U15s lose narrowly to Kent
In a close and exciting match, Hertfordshire U15s lost 29-26 to Kent at Old Albanians on 18 November. After a long delayed start due to Kent's transport problems, Kent got stuck in straight from the kick off stretching Herts and using their big pack to rumble downfield. Herts were pinged for holding on and a tap and go saw Kent work the ball through their forwards to the Herts line. One of the big Kent forwards drove over the line and first blood went to Kent with the try converted. Herts were on the back foot.
Herts responded with a penalty of their own which was drilled into touch by Zoe Harrison (minus boot). From the resulting line-out the ball was recycled well and a powerful run from Helena Rowland saw her crash over for Herts' first try. Herts were now finding their heads and a blistering run from Zoe Harrison found Hannah Botterman in support who jinked the defence and went over the whitewash. Zoe Harrison added the conversion to take the score to 12-7. Kent again used their forwards to rumble up the pitch and from a Kent scrum 5m out the ball was moved down the line for a large forward to crash over to even the score. Zoe Harrison then stormed through the Kent defence to score and then convert her try. From the restart Herts gave away a penalty which was drilled into touch. From the line-out Kent moved the ball to their flying centre who outpaced the Herts defence to score in the corner. It was real end to end rugby with the Kent centres making telling runs whenever they had the ball in their hands, and being stopped by the Herts defence. Against the run of play Helena Rowland powered through the Kent defence to score, with Zoe Harrison converting the try to give Herts a 26-17 lead at half time.
From the restart Herts were awarded a scrum only to hold onto the ball and give away a penalty. The ensuing pressure exerted by the Kent pack led to another Kent try under the posts and a conversion to put them within two points of Herts. Herts now threw everything at Kent, who absorbed the pressure and then spent a long period of time attacking the Herts line. Despite a valiant defence by Herts, Kent broke out to score in the corner to go ahead. Herts were now camped out in their own half and despite their best efforts time eventually ran out.
Herts U15 Girls put Essex to the sword
Hertfordshire Under 15 girls travelled to Upminster on 28 October and achieved an outstanding 90-10 win in their first county game of the season.
Herts started positively with the forwards securing clean ball which led to Helena Rowland scoring with a conversion from Zoe Harrison. Essex straight away fought back using their powerful forwards with their fly half going over to score a try in the corner. Herts responded immediately, with the ball being passed down the line to Anna Liddelow who outpaced the opposition to score in the corner. Herts were now getting into their stride, and Zoe Harrison followed this up with an individual try on the left. Essex brought their big pack into action, and again drove over for a well worked try. Herts upped the tempo and went over the whitewash only to be pinged for a forward pass. Superb direct running from Herts led to Anna Liddelow going over in the left corner for her second try. Herts backs then started to rampage through the Essex defence with Helena Rowland scoring and Zoe Harrison converting. Herts were now dominating, and Hannah Botterman broke four tackles and then passed to Zoe Harrison who scored and converted her own try.
The shackles were off, and in the second half Hannah Botterman sold an outrageous dummy to score under the post, and Zoe Harrison followed it up with a conversion. Zoe Harrison led the charge, scoring with one catch from the restart, and scoring again within thirteen seconds. Hannah Botterman then sold another dummy, to score under the posts, which Sapphire Bennett converted. Things weren't going Essex's way, and an attempted kicking clearance ended with Zoe Harrison charging the ball down to score. Again Sapphire Bennett converted the try. Herts were now dominating in all aspects of the game with Hannah Botterman's straight and hard running resulting in another try. The pattern continued with Zoe Harrison scoring the tries, and Sapphire Bennett kicking the points. Herts ended the game with a tally of 14 tries and 10 conversions to Essex's two tries. All in all a fantastic display by the Herts girls in their first match together and a good start to the county season.
Picture from Herts vs Kent November 2012 (with thanks to the Wardle family)
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