Cheshunt Rugby

As the traditional injury crisis carried on Cheshunt 2nd XV welcomed back Paul & Aydan Duligall, Archie Brixton and Dave Lever to the staring lineup.

Cheshunt started the strongest and from a successful lineout the forwards started one of their trademark rolling mauls, gaining over thirty yards to reach the Hemel 22m line.  The ball was then quickly distributed to the Cheshunt backs where Jack Beckett was able to set up the marauding Dave Lever, who ran from full back to break through the Hemel line and give Cheshunt the lead.  Unfortunately the conversion was missed but this strong start gave Cheshunt an excellent foundation to start the game.

A few key decisions went Hemel’s way with both a high tackle and accidental offside but Hemel were unable make the most of the chances and the score remained 5-0 to Cheshunt.  Hemel soon benefited from another Cheshunt offside and with a change of kicker brought the score back to 3-5.  Hemel then exploited an overlap to spin the ball wide to their key player/colussus on the wing who was able to score in the corner but they were unable to convert to leave the score at 8-5.

Cheshunt soon had the chance draw level but consecutive penalty misses, in difficult coniditions, from Luke Starkey and Dave Lever left the score 5-8 at half-time.  In an important half time team talk Jason Batten dished out his words of wisdom to inspire the Cheshunt team to push on for victory, including this piece of wisdom to Jack Jaggs “Listen….Shut up!”.

As the second half started it was clear that Cheshunt were going out to show Hemel that they had turned up to win and nothing else.  Hodgo soon got under Hemels skin with some hard hitting runs as the Hemel tighthead hit him with two high tackles in short succession and was rightfully sinbinned.  Cheshunt soon took advantage of their numerical advantage and steamrolled down the left wing with a succession of forward crash balls that resulted in Aydan Duligall scoring in the corner and Luke Starkey converting to get the score to 8-12.

Over the next 25 minutes Chehsunt laid on a defensive masterpiece as every Hemel attack was thwarted with great poise.  Paul Duligall soon came off for Tom Reynolds, followed by Charlie Porter being replaced by Jack Jaggs.  Paul Duligall wasn’t off the pitch for too long as Jason Pearce damaged his neck after a hard day scrummaging and Paul took up the mantle of playing loosehead prop.

After putting up some hardhitting defence, which saw Archie Brixton and Luke Starkey both stop the ‘colossus’ in his tracks, Cheshunt counter attacked via Ben Hounslow and soon ended up 80 yards up the pitch after quick movement and recycling from Ross Chamberlain and Aydan Duligall.  After the Hemel defence dived over the ball a penalty was called and Ross Chamberlain put the ball into touch, albeit at a backwards angle, and full time was called.

Saturday’s performance saw a continuation of the heart and soul that was so noticeable against Welwyn the previous week.  This was best typified by the ‘Berlin Wall’ like defence that kept the Hemel attacks at bay for most of the game.  Yet again the young Cheshunt players, Aydan Duligall, Ross Chamberlain & Archie Brixton, showed experience beyond their years to perform like seasoned pros, especially in defence.  Paul Duligall put in an oustanding shift by always taking a direct approach to attacking the Hemel line.  However, man of the match was Ben Hounslow who was at the heart of most counter attacks and was key in keeping the Cheshunt morale going throughout the game. With the Cheshunt injury crisis showing no sympathy all the 2nd XV players certainly showed that they are ready to step up to 1st XV level at any point soon.

Team:
T. Short, R. Lynn, J. Pearce (P.Duligall 68), P. Duligall (T.Reynolds 54), Hodgo, J. Batten Sr, A. Duligall, B. Hounslow, R. Chamberlain, L.Starkey, J. Gutteridge, C. Porter (J, Jaggs 59), J. Beckett, A. Brixton, D. Lever

By James Batten

After a minor ‘injury crisis’ Cheshunt 2nd XV welcomed back some familiar faces to the fold in the form of Steve Hall, Gavin Gallimore, Max Dicharia and James Selby.  Saturday’s game against Welwyn 2nd XV was always going to be a tough one, with Welwyn being in free scoring form in their previous matches but this didn’t make a difference to Cheshunt who put in some big hits from the off and soon showed Welwyn that they had turned up to show them who else is competing to win the league this year.

Welwyn were first to get on the score sheet when they broke off of the back of a maul and ran blind.  Jack Gutteridge putting in an impressive hit in on the Welwyn player but his height gave him just enough reach to place the ball down in the corner.  The conversion was missed, although the kickers stance left Cheshunt suspicous that Jonny Wilkinson had signed for Welwyn 2′s.  The ‘Jonny Wilkinson’ stance soon returned after Reece Shoobridge was called up for not releasing but yet again the stacne didn’t match the kicking ability and the score stayed at 5-0 to Welwyn.

Cheshunt soon suffered an injury after Max Dicharia landed awkwardly on his shoulder after being tackled.  While Max was down Welwyn made the most of their numerical advantage and exploited an overlap to score in the corner.  The conversion was missed and Luke Starkey came on to replace Max.  Cheshunt soon appeared rejuvenated and Gavin Gallimore continued to break the Welwyn defence on a regular basis.  Cheshunt were awared a penalty before half time and it was duly converted by the ever reliable boot of Reece Shoobridge to bring the score 10-3 to Welwyn.

The second half saw Cheshunt carry on improving.  Excellent forward work soon saw Welwyn on the defence before Jack Beckett put in a barnstorming run which saw him being tackled at the last second to take him into touch a metre before he would have scored.  Cheshunt built on this momentum and soon had Jack Beckett to thank for getting them into an attacking position.  Cheshunt forwards powered in and carried on the gain in yards before Jason Batten broke through the Welwyn defence to bring Cheshunt back into the game. Reece Shoobridge duly converted and the score was now 10-10.

Cheshunt had Welwyn worried at this point but after a quick counter attack Welwyn found themselves in the Cheshunt 22m and some quick thinking saw them break through the middle of the ruck and score.  The conversion was duly missed leaving Cheshunt 15-10 down with minutes left to play.  Welwyn tried to force the victory with some fast attacks from their backs but soon found themselves in trouble when Cheshunt counter attacked.  Jack Beckett carried on his impressive game by storming through the Welwyn defence and setting up Jack Gutteridge for a much deserved try in the corner.  Reece Shoobridge was unlucky to miss the conversion and leave the score at 15-15.

In the dying seconds Welwyn got a penalty on the Cheshunt 10m line.  The referee asid it was the last play of the match and Welwyn signalled that they were going for the posts.  Out came the ‘Jonny Wilkinson’ stance but the finish was again lacking and the ball fell short for Luke Starkey who calmly stepped back behind the try line and placed the ball down.

Cheshunt were unlucky not to win the game  but still carried on their undefeated streak. There were excellent performances all round with Gavin Gallimore and Jack Beckett putting in some excellent runs that always went way past the gain line. James Selby had an excellent return to the Cheshunt line up and was often first to the ball. Special mention must go to the Cheshunt forwards who didn’t lose a scrum, turned over a fair few Welwyn scrums, won every lineout and stole most of the Welwyn Ball.  A 60 yard drive from a maul was also a highlight as it showed some great technical prowess and communication from the Cheshunt forwards.  Man of the match was James Linsell.  His lineout work was outstanding, thanks to great throwing from Ross Chamberlain, but also stole the Welwyn lineout ball on numerous occassions.  He was ever present on the pitch with and without the ball and after an impressive performance last week he will will have a fair few 1st XV looking over their shoulders over forthcoming weeks.  All in all the heart and passion shown by Cheshunt 2nd XV stood out and this will carry on to next week when the undefeated Cheshunt 2′s go to Hemel Hempstead to spread the word on Cheshunt 2nd XV’s reputation as a team to reckoned with.

Team: T Short, S Hall, J Pearce, J Selby, J Linsell, J Batten Sr, R Chamberlain, D Angell, R Shoobridge, T Claridge, J Gutteridge, G Gallimore, M Dicharia (L Starkey 28), J Backett, C Porter

Cheshunt 2nd XV were handed a tought friendly against Bishops Stortford 3rd XV after Barnet Elizabethans called of the league fixture at short notice.  Saturday’s line up saw a few welcome changes with James Linsell, Jack Jaggs and Tom Claridge coming back into the 2nd team setup after being unavailable in previous weeks and the debut of coach Bobby Brown.

In traditional Cheshunt fashion the game started slowly and after some scrappy play Stortford took advantage off of a loose lineout ball and spun the ball wide to run in a try, which was duly converted to leave the score at 0-7.  Cheshunt soon sparked into life and Heinzy managed to break 5 tackles and produce a gain of over half a pitch.  Reece Shoobridge quickly picked up for a chip through which fooled the opposition and resulted in a penalty 5 metres from the Stortford line where Tony Short smashed over to bring Cheshunt back into the game 5-7.

The next spell of play saw the Stortford 10 controlling the game with some clever kick and runs until the Cheshunt forwards put in some excellent performances and started to dominate a spell of rucks and mauls down the pitch before letting the ball go blind for Tom Claridge to masterfully setup Heinzy to get a well deserved try in the right hand corner.  Reece Shoobridge missed the conversion after a sudden gust of wind took the ball wide of the posts. The forwards then carried on their strong work by taking a rolling maul halfway down the pitch. Jason Batten took the ball off of the back of the maul and powered his way through two tackles before setting up the ball for Hodgo to pick up and drive on and then pop the ball up to a gazelle like James Linsell to score a quality forwards try, which was duly converted to leave the score at 17-7 to Cheshunt.  Stortford scored a breakway try to just before half-time to bring the score the 17-14.

The second half started off with some ‘Champagne Rugby’ from Jake Phillips as he danced his way through half the Stortford team before sending th ball wide to eventually reach Scott Cummines who was tackled short of the line.  Soon after this 2nd Team Coach Bobby Brown was brought on for Jack Jaggs and brought a classic touch to the game, but this was mainly due to his hotpant like shorts he was wearing.

The forwards showed some intelligent play and created the chance for Hodgo to pickup and power his way over the line and allow Shoobridge to step up and make the score 24-14. Ben Hounslow soon replaced the impressive James Linsell. However, ben had an ‘interesting performance in his first two mintues on the pitch as he managed to pass straight to the opposition off of a penalty and a minute later calls of ‘red ben’ were heard from the sideline as he questioned one of the Stortford players motives for getting involved in a conversation with him. Coach Bobby Brown showed some impressive running whenever he was presented with the ball and after breaking through the Stortford line he was presented with a 1 on 1 with their full back. Rather than sidestep him or try to power through him Bobby amazed the sidelines when he launched himself headfirst at the players stomach with accuracy that would be befitting of a predator missile. Upon checking if Bobby was alright we were soon told ” Yeah I’m fine I was trying to take him out, you have to take the oppo out”.

In the dying minutes a Stortford Player was sinbinned and took out his anger on a flag, unfortunately the flag was a bendy one and fought back.  From the resulting penalty Cheshunt soon ‘boshed’ their way through the Stortford defence before Vice-Captain Gareth Lewis powered his way over to score, Reece Shoobridge converted to make the score 31-14. The score could have been greater had Charlie Porter not played hot potato with the ball and threw it forward to Scott Cummines, who had a clear path to the try line.

All in all it was another impressive performance from Cheshunt 2nd XV with the whole team stepping up a level for the win.  James Linsell had an excellent game with the ball in hand.  Ross Chamberlain showed great power with his runs and his lineout throwing was immaculate.  Reece Shoobridge and Tom Claridge pulled the strings in the half back area with great distribution and clever play. Scott Cummines carried on ihs strong tackling form and ‘bosh’ runs.  However, man of the match went to Heinzy for not only gaining about 50 yards each time he got the ball by being a rock in defence as well.  Next week the wrecking machine known as Cheshunt 2nd XV will be in Welywn to takeover another teams homeground.

By James Batten

Cheshunt 2nd XV started off the new season with a solid win over and expierenced Harpenden side on Saturday. With injuries catching up with a few players there were some changes in the side with both Tom Mace and Dave Angell coming in after playing for the 1′s the previous week. The game did not start off well for Cheshunt with Harpenden using all of their experience to gain the advantage over Cheshunt. Harpenden were soon 8-0 up after scoring a penalty and soon following up with a wide backs move that left their speedy winger to outpace Charlie Porter. Soon after this Dave Angell had to come off after a 2-inch wound appeared on his head, which proceeded to gush blood over his face like a horror movie, but soon returned all stitched up and a fetching headband reminiscent of forwards from yesteryear.

Cheshunt soon rallied round and after a barrage of forward pressure Jason Batten powered his way past two Harpenden players to score. Reece Shooobridge duly converted to bring the score back to 8-7. After this Harpenden took the upper hand till half time and proceeded to score two penalties and a suspect try that had as rather obvious knock on that the referee was unable to spot. With the score at 19-7 before half time tempers began to flair as Harpendens ‘old-school’ players began to make the most of the rules of rugby to gain any advantage they could. This finally came to a head with the two teams being slpit up and Hodgo shouting the Australian war cry of “come on then princess”.

As soon as the second half started there was a clear difference from Cheshunt as they came out more aggresive and refused to let Harpenden out of their half and when they did clear their lines the new ‘slimline’ Tom Mace returned the ball with much haste, and carried on doing so thoughout the game to setup up numerous counter attacks. After a two forced changes due to injury, Heinzy and Connor Pearce came onto the pitch and added some clear straight and aggressive running to the Cheshunt game and this clearly affected the Harpenden play as they soon got scrappy and started giving away penalties. Shoobridge attempted a long range penalty to close the gap but narrowly missed and showed his dissapointment on the pitch but didn’t let this get him down as he soon found himself on the scoresheet after picking up the ball off of the back of a ruck, after the forwards gained about 40 yards with excellent mauling and rucking, and cooly added his first senior try to bring the score to 12-19.

Cheshunt were now the dominant force in the game with Heinzy and Pearce both breaking the Harpenden lines everytime they ran with the ball. Heinzy, in particular, shone with his choice of line and power giving him, what appeared to be, an average gain of 50 yards evertime he got the ball. One of Heinzy’s powerful runs setup, what can only be described, as a classic team work try. After getting Cheshunt from the Cheshunt 22 to the Harpenden 22 the ball was quickly recycled and went through the hands to the left side of the pitch where Dave Angell found himself in space and passed to Scott Cummines and looped round to receive the return pass and score. Shoobridge duly converted to bring the scores level and then added a penalty to makes the score 22-19 to Cheshunt.

Paul Duligall was brought on for Hodgo and became part of a trifecta of tackling force when he and Scott Cummines added to, an already impressive, Jack Gutteridge tackle and proceeded to leave the Harpenden scrum half off of the pitch for the remainder of the game. Ben Hounslow then got unfairly yellow carded after getting spear tackled by two Harpenden players and merely questioned what they thought they were doing. However, this didn’t unsettle him as he soon found himself on the scoresheet within seconds of his return to the pitch. Heinzy managed to steal the ball from a Harpenden play player running at full pace, something that those who were on the sidelines are still mesmerised by now, and ran half the pitch before passing to Ross Chamberlain who powered past one player before offloading to Hounslow to deservedly score. Shoobridge converted to bring the final score to 29-17 to Cheshunt.

Yet again there were impressive performances from everyone for Cheshunt. However, special mentions need to go to Tom Mace for his excellent defensive work and counter attacking from full back. Heinzy for his forward runs that gained so much ground and helped setup numerous try scoring chances. Jason Batten, and the forwards in general, for their rucking, counter-rucking and running with ball in the second half. Dave Angell and Ben Housnlow for always being where the ball was and running forward and gaining at every chance and Charlie Porter for being a defensive rock with some hard tackling throughout the game. Man of the Match was Scott Cummines who, finally, lasted a whole 80 minutes and put in numerous ‘Boom’ tackles that no one believed he could do.

Team: Lewis, Hounslow, Short, Hodgo, Reynolds, Batten. Sr, Chamberlain, Angell, Shoobridge, Starkey, Porter, Cummines, Beckett, Gutteridge, Mace, P. Duligall, C. Pearce, Heinzy

By James Batten