The mighty Cents gave a debut to the impressive Hearne, following his whole-Army representative honours for Rugby League.
On the hottest day of the year so far, the Centurions withstood high temperatures, a huge Knights’ pack and a succession of unforced errors to return to the top of the East League with a convincing win that was anything but routine until the final quarter. The Knights also had their eyes on top spot and after racing into an early lead, dominated the tackle to keep St Albans penned in their own half. A barnstorming try from Callum Porter helped restore parity before the Knights crossed under the posts again. Next Scott Clewlow smashed through the North Herts defence with Chad Tunley adding his second conversion to level the scores. Powerful running from Hearne and Shaw caused constant problems in the North Herts defensive line, whilst Forwards Braniff, Spratt and Lee were tireless against a massive North Herts pack. The Centurions dominated the rest of the half, with Andrew Spencer and Tom Spratt adding exquisite tries and Tunley a third conversion before Knights scored against the run-of-play on the stroke of half time to leave the score at 16-22. Early chances to stretch the lead went begging as St Albans made unforced errors close to the try line. Godson Sado showed the rest how it was done to finish off a great team play, only for the Knights to go up the other end and score another try of their own. Sado soon added another just before the hour mark after a sensationally weighted looping pass from Bucknall over the North Herts defence, only for the Knights to peg the scores back once more. Assured displays from experienced player-coach Simba, Westhead and Webber calmed the Cents in the heat, as well as great team play from Maher and Gardener to pressure the crusaders side. That remained the home team’s last hurrah. In the stifling heat, the Centurions’ extra pace and mobility left the Knights’ forwards trailing in their wake. Great support lines off of the unstoppable Joe Shaw ensured Alex Powdrell scored with an impudent dart from acting half-back after a great team play. Kieran O’Shea broke the line to run in from distance. The young Rob Campbell dived over in the corner to finish off a sublime move. Finally, the impressive Sam Bucknall surged over the line to cap off a great individual performance. With conversions from Tom Spratt and Powdrell, the Saints ran out 52-26 winners. Player-coach Simba Mupamhanga was pleased by the way his players stuck to their task. “The Knights were a big team and made some crunching tackles early in the game. But our forwards hurt them, too, and we knew if we stuck at it our extra speed and handling skills would prevail. In the end we should have won by more.” We wish the best of luck in recovery to Chad Tunley, after playing through the pain for the Cents with a broken foot. Speedy recovery Chad. Final score: North Herts Knights 26 St Albans Centurions 52 Sat. 1st June, 2.30pm k.o. at King George V Playing Fields, Hitchin Comments are closed.
|
Categories |