Fullarians v Hatfield QE RFC

Fullerians crumble in second half to give Hatfield fourth win in a row

Hatfield QE Rugby Club continued on their fantastic season by beating Fullerians third XV 46-17 at their home in Watford this weekend.

When the game started it didn’t look like it was going to be walk over it ended up being. HQE started off scrappy and unorganised, which allowed the home team to run with the ball and make ground. Poor discipline hindered Hatfield, which is a common theme, the home team were able to piggyback Hatfield’s mistakes to gain good territory. This paid off for Fullerians when they drew first blood and scored in the corner.

After a stern speaking to from first team captain George Stone, HQE started to work as a team. From a lineout, the Hatfield backs played a lovely move letting winger Jonno Spreckley tear down the right wing. After a last ditch tackle and another lineout, which the pack won, Charles Jumbo rumbled over from a quick tap penalty to score for Hatfield.

Fullerians had a strong centre and full back that were making yards against Hatfield, and more poor discipline from HQE gave Fullerians penalties. They were able to score off a scrum due to some poor tackling by the away team.

Once again this kicked HQE into another gear and they started putting phases together. The backs were firing all cylinders and hitting the gaps. Impressive runs from Jago Penrose, Joel Niziza and Jake Tibble saw Hatfield keep possession in the oppositions half. A strong Hatfield scrum and some clever movements from the forwards allowed a gap to open up in midfield for Rob Jack to score. This meant the teams went into the break 12 points apiece.

After a halftime talk from Coach Gary Phillips, the Hatfield team came out full of confidence. HQE were a younger and fitter side and it started to pay dividends as they got the ball out to the wings repeatedly to run round them. Jumbo made a cannon ball run from 40m out to score in the corner knocking players flying.

After this Rob Jack and Joel Nizia were devastating in attack and bagged a try each after some interplay with the backs. Fullerians were unable to respond for a long period in the second half.

Throughout the game, winger Charlie Gibbs kept the score moving with several penalties and all but one conversion – making 13 points on his own.

The Hatfield team’s heads dipped for a brief 10 minute part where they let them back in with a try but from there it was foot on the throat play by Hatfield.

A penalty try was awarded to Hatfield after the referee deemed that Rob Jack was tackled off the ball just meters from the line. This also meant a yellow card for their full back and with only 10 minutes left. Ayomide Cole, making his debut for Hatfield made a fantastic zig zag run through their whole team to leave them in their places and ended a fantastic team performance for Hatfield.

Captain George stone was Jubilant after the game saying: “I was very happy with the whole team. All our hard work on the training paddock is starting to pay off…”

Hatfield have a break from league fixtures next week. Their next game is at Roe Hill on 21st October against an Enfield Ignations 3rd XV.