BERFC 5 - 28 Harpenden

With the Byng Road pitches under 3 inches of water we decamped a mile down the road to Galley Lane, where the water was slightly shallower in most places, for our first outing of 2013.

Our opponents, Harpenden, play their rugby a couple of divisions above us in HML Div 2, but had brought a large squad of players to match our growing numbers, so we decide to play 3 lots of 20 minutes to give opportunity for both sides to rotate their players.

On a very soggy pitch, with handling errors aplenty, Barnet had the upper hand territorially in the first 20 minutes, but despite knocking on the door on several occasions, the Harpenden defence held firm – until from a 5 metre scrum, the ball was worked wide for Barnet to cross in the corner 5-0.

Barnet made 12 changes for the second period, and Harpenden also rotated their squad, but for this period Barnet were unable to maintain pressure in the pack and the Harpenden back division began to show their strength, running in 3 converted tries unanswered, two long mazy runs that eluded several attempts at tackling, and one particularly well worked move off the back of a scrum – to bring the score at the end of the second period to 5-21.

The third period saw a similar number of changes, and like the first, was much more keenly contested. Once again, a 5 metre scrum from Barnet spawned the only try of the period, but this time for Harpenden, as a crunching tackle from the Harpenden inside centre lead to a spilled ball. Harpenden snapped the loose ball up and quickly worked it up the pitch for the final try of the game and a 5-28 score line.

A good game against a well drilled Harpenden side, who used the boot intelligently throughout the game, and whose backs cut loose in the second period.

Nevertheless, a good fixture for the boys, and a reminder to keep our shape, play to our strengths and keep plugging away, even when the tide starts to turn.