Tough home loss for Hoppers
Juniors: Under 15s: 27th October 2024
| Grasshoppers U15s | 24 | 50 | Hertford U15s |
Grasshoppers U15s fought hard as they went down 50-24 at home to an impressive Hertford side.
Despite looking good with the ball in hand and scoring four tries with hard running and smart use of space, Hoppers were caught out defensively time and again as Hertford's backline ran riot in the second half.
On a beautiful Autumn day at Syon Lane, Hoppers started brightly. Receiving the kick off they worked their way through multiple phases and scored after just two minutes when a crossfield kick from Oscar Rubbuthan-Lemesle found Danidu Arachchige in space out wide.
Hertford were stirred into action and answered with their own try with a short range quick tap after 7 minutes, and followed it up with another shortly after.
The stage was set for a physical and open encounter. Every time Hertford moved the ball into the wide channels, their balanced and evasive runners threatened Hoppers' defensive line, though the home side was able to apply their own pressure and keep in the game with strong running. One such surge saw Lloyd Seccombe swatting off multiple tacklers on his way to the line.
Hertford increased their lead to 10-17 just before the break, scoring out wide from a first phase scrum.
The second half started evenly but after Hoppers kicked loosely from a turnover, the Hertford full back beat several players to score from inside his own half. The away team hit their stride at this point, and scored immediately from the restart, again with smart handling and freeflowing running. When Hoppers did win the ball back after the next kickoff, they worked through phases and Lloyd again powered over from close range. Extras were added by Joe Mitchell.
Unfortunately, this lifeline was wasted when Hoppers knocked on from the restart, and from the resulting scrum, the powerful Hertford No.8 was given the freedom of a huge blind side to canter home from 40 metres.
Hoppers worked hard in possession to eventually score again through Anthony Blazewicz, who turned down an overlap to take the hard route to the line. Joe Mitchell converted to keep Hoppers in it at 24-36, but this proved to be the home team's last entry on the scoreboard as Hertford dominated territory and scored twice more against a tiring defence.
