HQE make it 13 in a row against a strong Black Horse Team
A strong and determined Black Horse RFC arrived at Roe Hill to try and knock Hatfield off their perch and end their unbeaten run.
Black Horse were committed and flew out of the blocks whilst the Hatfield team hadn’t really begun to play. After killing the ball in a ruck the Hatfield team found themselves giving away a penalty, which Black Horse converted to inflict the first blow.
Blackhorse followed that up with an unconverted try and heads began to drop in the Hatfield team.
Hatfield started to string phases together and just outside Black Horse’s 22-yard line the home side were rewarded with a penalty, which was converted by full back Charlie Gibbs.
This boosted the confidence of HQE and fly half Rob Jack went on a scorching run that saw him break through the gain line and score Hatfield’s first try of the day, Gibbs then converted giving Hatfield a 10-8 lead at the break.
Hatfield were once again slow at the start of the half and quickly found themselves under their own posts after Black Horse had scored a try. Coach Gary Phillips and captain Marc McCrystal gave the team a stern shakedown, which seemed to light a fire under the Hatfield team who had been performing well below par.
After a tense passage of play winger Jago Penrose kicked for position and chased. Rob Jack also followed, tackled the Black Horse player, ripped the ball and stormed away to score under the posts. Gibbs, once again converted.
Black Horse started arguing amongst themselves and with the referee, but Hatfield kept their heads and with the last play of the day Hatfield broke through with Rob Jack once again touching down, scoring his third try of the game and 25th of the season. Gibbs converted to make the final score 24-13 to Hatfield.
The HQE team will have to regain focus as they have a tough game on Saturday 24th February at Amersham & Chiltern III’s.