In November Tunbridge Wells put Harpenden to the sword by 24-12 on a gloomy afternoon in Kent and they arrived at Redbourn Lane on the back of a win over third placed Tring. However, the change in fortunes for Harpenden since Christmas has never been more evident than on Saturday afternoon as they swept away the visitors with an accomplished performance.

There were a few changes in the Harpenden side, with Tait coming into the centre as Venter moved to fly half in place of injured Ollie Mann and Gulliford moving back to scrum half. In the pack, Sturley and Ward formed a new second row combination with Osborn coming in for Simms at hooker with McKenzie-Cardy and Funaki returning to the starting fifteen.

Harps were under significant pressure from the kick off as Wells pounded the line and built up phases in the home 22. The Harps defence stood strong and from this point onwards, took control of the game.

It was top try scorer Speirs who was the first on the scoresheet, after he scooped up the ball following a maul that was careering towards the line. Johnson’s extras gave put Harps seven points to the good.

Both sides at this stage were still testing each other, prodding and probing to find weaknesses in the defence and Harps were first to find one of many they exposed over the course of the afternoon. Venter found a way to the line following some neat footwork once the forwards had punched some holes in defensive line. Johnson once again added the conversion.

Venter then moved from scorer to creator, offloading the ball to Ward to power over after some very tidy interplay between backs and forwards down the right flank.

As the tries started to rain down on Redbourn Lane it was Venter once again who was at the forefront, putting Tait through a hole to make a 20 yard break and then moved ball wide to McLean and then Shaw, who dived over in the corner for an excellent score. Despite the missed conversion, Harps had a commanding 26-0 lead to take into the half time break.

Tunbridge Wells whilst eager to get on the scoresheet early in the second period were immediately under pressure again as Harps built phases in their 22. Eventually this led to an overlap as Johnson found Tait who set up Sturley to slide in for his first try in Harps shirt.

The tail feathers of the cockerels were very much fluttering in the breeze and the bounce of the ball was also going their way. After a miscued high kick from the visitors bounced straight into the palms of Venter who sprinted clear to score under the posts.
As the score continued to rise it was once again a combination of good skill and good fortune that saw Tait get himself on the score sheet after a series of offloads saw Harps move down the pitch at a searing pace.

Wells were finally able to get some points on the board, although not before tighthead prop Campion had the crowd on their feet with a thirty yard break from a show and go, Wells employed their driving maul, the tool that had caused Harps so much trouble in the reverse fixture. Making the score 43-7.

There were still more tries to be had from Harps as Funaki found his way to the line from short range. The scoring was then capped off with a try for Fred Simcott almost immediately off the following kick off after the back line spotted the space and moved it along the line for the young winger to run in.

Harps have three games remaining in Regional 1 South East, they take on Hertford (H) next week, Tring (A) on 4th March and host Colchester on 11th to round off the campaign.

Harpenden: McKenzie-Cardy, Osborn, Campion, Sturley, Ward, Funaki, Attfield, Speirs, Gulliford, Venter, Wilkinson, Johnson, Tait, Shaw, McClean.
Reps: Mahmood, Bloisi, Simcott.