Match Report: Grasshoppers v Hackney

Seniors: First XV: 9th February 2019

Grasshoppers

35

29

Hackney

Grasshoppers welcomed Hackney to Syon Lane hoping to wipe out the 24-14 away loss back October. So on a bright but breezy February day the visitors kicked off from the School end and G’s struggled to get any foothold in the game for the first twenty minutes and eventually succumbed to the pressure when the visitors broke the deadlock with a converted try. G’s dug in though and started to get some momentum with their forwards who always broke the gain the line. This saw them awarded a scrum twenty metres out so cue number eight, Louise Brown who picked up and navigated his way through the Hackney defence for the try which when converted by centre Billy-Graham Park saw the game level at 7-7. The last ten minutes of the first half were all G’s as the their forwards waged wave after wave of driving rugby and so went into the break with a 14-7 lead thanks to a try from hooker, Jack Walkden and the conversion from Billy-Graham Park. The third quarter of the game saw G’s take control as forwards and backs linked well and so G’s pulled ahead 28-7 with a second try from Louis Brown and a well taken interception from centre, Sean Connor from sixty metres, the conversions were added by Billy-Graham Park and stand-off, Ed Roberts so things looked good for a bonus point win but we’ve realised life’s never that simple! And so it was Hackney who took back the initiative and started to real G’s in and narrowed the gap to 28-19 through two tries and a conversion. However, G’s did recover at the game moved into the last ten minutes when Sean Conner did a lateral kick to winger, Tom Sherwin who slipped over in the corner and the magnificent conversion from Billy-Graham Park saw G’s move into surely an unassailable position? And so the last phase of the game as with the first saw Hackney in control as they got their own bonus point try with a conversion to make it a nine point gap and with almost the last kick of the game slotted a penalty to make the final score 35-29 and get a second bonus point but with another five points in the bag G’s look ahead to two tough league games away to Letchworth and Hemel Hempstead on 2nd & 9th March respectively.