Frustrating day for the 2nds

Despite taking to the field with only 14 men, the players that were on the field were more than capable of putting in a strong performance and it counts as something of a shame that the customary strong points of the side, defence and support, were lacking on the day.

That said, Barnet started very brightly and were on the front foot right from the kick-off. Strong rucking and back-row play allowed for a turnover and the pressure was applied. Ultimately after a scrum won against the head strong midfield play resulted in quick ball that was passed along the back line and found its way to DAN HARRIS who managed to evade two challenges to scamper over the line giving Barnet a 5-0 lead early on. This gave the side increased confidence and this was supported by a strong set piece (it’s not often that can be said about the 2nd XV). There were also a number of clean breaks with Rod MacLennan, Harry Avent and Olly Golden to the fore. Unfortunately all this good work was undone by dropped passes and an inability to get to the tackled player resulting in a large number of turnovers. Datchworth were able to capitalise on this and starting to apply pressure through their usual direct and intense running game. After their first try, which came after the ball clearly came out of the side of the scrum on a Barnet put in allowing Datchworth to capitalise on an unguarded blind side (due to only having 14 players), the floodgates threatened to open with two more tries before halftime leading to a score of 19-5 with Jonno Wilkins harshly in the bin for a legitimate tackle deemed a spear.

In the second half, it was clear what the home side had to do – stop dropping the ball, support better and shore up the defence where the opposition were finding too much success through the middle of the park. They were further hampered by the loss of Al Mcfarlane, as usual a colossus all over the pitch, to injury meaning that the 2nds had just 13 men on the field. This pressure was telling with 2 more Datchworth giving the visitors a 31-5 lead. Barnet, however, refused to give in and strong build up play resulted in a penalty 20 metres out. JONNO WILKINS, keen to make up for his earlier “transgression” took not only the ball from the tap but also several Datchworth defenders to crash over for a try that DAN OUTRAM converted. The opposition were keen to have the last word and were able to capitalise on the man advantage in the forwards and in the backs to get a scrum five metres out. Despite Ed MacLennan somewhat miraculously managing to hold up the number 8 before the try line, which should have resulted in a Barnet scrum, the referee decided to give Datchworth the put in and they were able to shunt over this time round. Before the final whistle, there was still time for the referee to fail to penalise the visitors for blatantly lifting a Barnet player’s leg in the middle of a maul. However, this cannot excuse Rod MacLennan’s subsequent remonstrations with the referee that earned him a yellow card and meant that Barnet ended the game with 12 players on the field.

Despite the frustrations, a number of players were able to perform well including Harry Avent, Olly Golden and Dan Harris. The deserved man of the match, which will surely come as a surprise to veterans of the club, was Dave Blomiley who was not only effective going forwards but also strong in defence and completely assured under the high ball. The post-match dinner was predominantly composed of some rather delicious chicken wings (they most definitely were not pigeon as one member of the club tried to persuade the reviewer) that were smothered in a pleasantly spiced sauce and accompanied by baked potato and coleslaw. It was a window into the American deep South on a cold dark November afternoon.