Harpenden Rugby Club

Harpenden RFC 12 – Dunstablians RFC 10  (Pre-season friendly)

14/08/2010

Harpenden began their trio of pre season friendlies with an away trip to Dunstablians RFC on Saturday. With a svelte squad of just 16 players Harpenden’s first game under the stewardship of Messers Traxon and Longdon threatened to be a tough assignment against a club in the league above. Despite Harpenden’s lack of numbers the mood in the camp prior to kick-off was one of optimism and zeal.  The 16 man squad contained a sprinkling of seasoned Harpenden alumni combined with some unsullied faces, eager to prove a point. Harpenden began the game well, dictating both tempo and field position. However, Dunstable used the knowledge of their home turf to resist wave after wave of Harpenden attacks. With the lineouts bearing fruit, Harpenden used their quicker backrow to good effect, manoeuvring their stodgier counterparts at will, with Read and Rich combining to put Dunstable on the back foot. However, the opening score came courtesy of some powerful running from the home side.  With Harpenden’s defence split through the middle, Dunstable moved the ball across the park before their stocky number 8 touched down under a pile of bodies.

Harpenden increased the tempo to good effect with support runners lying deep off Payne at 10. Continuity was hard to come by initially, with the cobwebs of pre season not fully out of the system. However, with Harpenden utilising the pick-and-go tactics of old and with support always on hand, they found a chink in Dunstable’s armour. With Payne lying flat, and following a series of continuous possession an angled run from Read proved fruitful as an offload out of the tackle found the marauding 7, who bustled his way to the line, restoring parity in the scoreline. The game then sprang to life with half chances spurned at both ends of the pitch. A clever line from Kearns at 12, followed a creative break from Collins at 9, both ended without fruition, both showed glimpses of the quality at Harpenden’s disposal. Following Harpenden’s period of domination Dunstable fought back with some testing, probing kicks which kept the Men in Black deep in their own half. However, with the defence well organised it took a long range drop goal from the home side’s fullback to open up a 3-point lead in the third quarter of the game.

With Harpenden’s fitness levels being tested to the maximum, all efforts were geared toward regaining the lead with only 20 minutes remaining. However, with a lack of clean ball and a refreshed Dunstable side it was always going to be a tough ask. In spite of these factors, Harpenden quietly went about their business, and soon found themselves camped in the Dunstable twenty two. Huff and puff, as the saying goes, failed to provide the desired effect and the home team resisted Harpenden’s advances. The flow of the game began to become disjointed as mistakes began to creep into the play, and players’ concentration became affected by tiredness.  Diligent defence personified by Baker, Tennant, Blake and Singleton kept Dunstable at bay, and Harpenden within touching distance of victory. With the last play of the game Dumbleton, captain for the day, forced a turnover deep in the Harpenden twenty two. Payne’s flat pass to Read broke several tackles before a deft offload to Wilde created uncertainty in the Dunstable lines. Another fizzed pass found the cultivated locks of Singleton who outpaced the cover defence to create an overlap from which Tristan scored his customary try, to the surprise of both sets of players. Harpenden took the game 12-10. But the team performance and commitment will have pleased the coaching panel, arguably more than the result.

Squad;

Rolfe, Singleton, Blake, Dumbleton (c), Tennant, Rich, Baker, Read, Collins, Payne, Colvin, Kearns, Wilde, Francis, Howells, Farenheim.