Hitchin played newmarket today in a friendly to determine the probable starting lineup of the Hitchin team in the season to come. Now, enough newspaper talk and more about the action.
We started by blitzing their line from some decent forward play, it gave the backs an opportunity to run the ball at them, and they were found wanting a few times. A couple of tries would prove the difference between the teams, with Hitchin holding Newmarket to zero scores, or one solitary score. I took a blow to the head, and after degaussing my mind, can no longer remember whether they scored or not.
A few bludgeoning drives from set-pieces from 10-12-13 switch play left their defence open for second and third phase play, where we benefitted, helping to drive the ball forward. As is often the case however, unforced errors and sloppy play often let the opponent off the hook.
I was personally guilty of breaking the line a couple of times and not offloading when appropriate, but on several other occasions I loosed the ball having broken the first line. I also monstered a poor man with a league style tackle; then again he seemed ok, and even congratulated me on a fine tackle, albeit in a wheezing, rhasping, winded manner.
All in all there are several areas for improvement, including line-break distribution, and general fitness. One missed tackle needs to be eliminated, but for a first game in an extremely long time it wasn't too bad.
The second half descended into brawling chaos, with no team able to establish any momentum. The match was essentially completed after twenty minutes.
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