Herts/Middlesex 1. 14/11/15

Cheshunt just about deserved victory in a hard fought game in poor conditions, a result which sees

them remain in fourth spot in Herts/Middlesex 1, keeping pressure on the teams above in the race

for promotion spaces.

Barnet had the better of the opening exchanges and Cheshunt weren’t able to get out of their half

until the 8th minute, their first foray into enemy territory was rewarded with a penalty, which Reece

Shoobridge converted for an early lead. Barnet were soon back on equal terms, when Glyn Bailey

kicked a long range penalty just 4 minutes later.

Cheshunt slowly started to exert their authority on the game and spent long periods in and around

the Barnet 22, Bobby Bolton nearly forced his way through the defensive line, but, C’s couldn’t

secure the ball and it was lost close to the Barnet whitewash. The Cheshunt forwards piled on the

pressure at the set piece and with the scrum going backwards, the Barnet half backs lost the ball in

the dead ball area, Aydan Duligall reacted quickest and dived on it for the opening try, an excellent

conversion from Shoobridge had given C’s a 10-3 lead, after 21 minutes.

Cheshunt continued to dominate, especially at the scrum, Ollie Martines, Jake Phillips and Greg

Morris in the front row disrupting Barnet ball and providing a solid platform for their own. The

lineout too was providing a good source of possession, Conner Pearce and Duligall securing the

throw for Marvin Brown, Alex Clark and Joel Bailey to drive into the Barnet defence to launch more

attacks.

A catch and drive from a lineout looked like it might supply C’s next score, when it was stopped just

yards from the line, Dave Lever took a short pass and nearly powered over, he too was stopped just

short, but Barnet had transgressed at the breakdown and Shoobridge added another 3 points on the

half hour.

The visitors immediately had the chance to pull back 3 points when C’s were offside soon after the

re-start, but the attempt was pushed wide and Cheshunt were quickly back in the Barnet half, a very

promising situation broke down with a forward pass.

The home side spent most of the rest of the half in Barnet territory, but when they were looking

their most dangerous, just before the break, a dropped ball 10 yards out allowed Barnet to hack

down field, another kick took play to the Cheshunt 22, and only some fine defending from Bolton

halted the attack and signalled the half time whistle.

The rain continued to fall and conditions weren’t conducive to any sort of running rugby, the Barnet

tactic in the second half was to send long kicks down field to gain some field position, but Bolton,

Lever and Dan Saunders tidied the kicks up and returned the ball back downfield and when Barnet

occasionally tried to come through the middle, Tom Claridge and Omid Amani cut them down.

As the game progressed the visitors began to secure more possession, without looking very

dangerous, but a penalty with 20 minutes left on the clock was kicked to 15 yards out and a catch

and drive was successfully driven over the line and with the extras, were right back in it at 13-10.

Cheshunt had emptied the bench, Dave Angell, Charlie Langford and Alan Thorne all contributing

towards the defensive duties to keep Barnet at bay, however as the clock wound down, the visitors

had another opportunity deep in the red zone. Cheshunt escaped with a lineout steal close to the

line, the ball was fed from Johno Wicks to Claridge, he stormed out of his 22 and up to half way and

Barnet were forced to concede another penalty at the breakdown. This time Cheshunt kicked to the

corner, after a driving maul got them close, Pearce peeled off and fed Shoobridge, a little show and

go sent the defence the wrong way and he wriggled over the line and then secured the extra 2

points for a 20-10 advantage with little more than 5 minutes on the clock.

Barnet threw everything at Cheshunt in the last few minutes, a long range penalty was kicked to the

corner and when the Green and Whites transgressed again, the visitors decide to take the 3 points,

and at least the losing bonus point, with 2 minutes left.

A poor re-start gave the visitors some hope, but fortunately the Cheshunt scrum shoved the Barnet

pack back to turn ball over on halfway and C’s were able to get the ball into touch to signal the final

whistle.

Martines, Phillips, Morris, Brown, Clark, Pearce, Duligall, Bailey, Shoobridge, Wicks, Lever, Claridge,

Amani, Saunders, Bolton. Replacements – Angell, Langford, Thorne.