However, first blood went to Sudbury with just two minutes on the clock with the Hertford defence exploring the position of the referees off side line 3-0.

6 minutes into the game, at a maul on halfway, a defensive lapse by Sudbury allowed Stepff Jones to breakthrough. He made 20 meters therefore deftly chipping over the oncoming fullback. As the ball bounced high, first on scene was David Hale who, after a leap and juggle, secured the ball to touchdown giving Lloyd Davies a relatively simple conversion to add the extra 2 points. Sudbury 3 – 7 Hertford

Although playing well, Hertford we're not having it all their own way and on 10 minutes it took a superb cover tackle in the corner to prevent what would have been a very good Sudbury try.

The respite was short lived and Sudbury came again only to encounter solid defence and counter rucking, allowing the boot of Davies to clear the Hertford line.

The much-improved Hertford line out stole the ensuing set piece play, resulting in Lemon, midway inside his own 22 committing the Sudbury line before putting Louis Kendrick into space. Louis broke to halfway before punting ahead and showing his rediscovered pace to pressurize the gathering defensive winger into making a knock on.

Hertford continued to pressurize and on 19 minutes after a series of half breaks by Lemon and Hale, Steff Jones almost got away and as he was held, he ghosted an inside pass to the ubiquitous Banna. The defense could not hold on to his flailing appendages and his rangy stride took him to the line. Lloyd Davies was again on hand to slot the conversion. Sudbury 3-14 Hertford

Hertford extended their lead after a short session of aerial ping pong resulted in Hertford pressurizing with a series of pick and drives and that man Steff Jones bludgeoning his way to the whitewash utilizing his low center of gravity. Davies was again good for the extras. Sudbury 3 – 21 Hertford

It looked as though the pressure was coming straight back on Hertford when they offended from the kickoff. The kick for the corner was snatched by Rudling who's excellent left footed narrow angled kick found touch on halfway.

The poorly executed Sudbury line out was scooped by Steff Jones, loitering at the back of the line, where he channeled his inner fly half again, with the cross field kick that the defence bundled into touch.

Next came a long series of phases using both guile and power which saw multiple recycles and all-round excellent Hartford play before unfortunately giving away a penalty when Sudbury had become a really stretched.

Although Hertford were dominating, Sudbury were never out of it and on 35 minutes secured a penalty 10 metres out from the Hertford line and chose the scrum. Committed, or possibly overcommitted defence from Hertford, saw three more penalty advantages given by the referee before Sudbury ran in an excellent converted try wide on the right, possibly avoiding a team yellow for the defence. Sudbury 10-21 Hertford

Straight from the kickoff Alex Kay went to the sin bin for tackling the receiver while still in the air. As half time approached the Sudbury fly half attempted a 50 22 kick which went dead. It was now Sudbury’s turn to transgress the offside demarcation and Lloyd Davies drilled for the corner.

A confident take by Sonny Swift set up a series of 10 phases which showcased Hertford’s new style of open, heads-up rugby. Utilizing powerful drives quick recycling and stealthy handling in the backline, ending with a powerful break from Tremaine, a superbly improvised paddle onwards by Thacker, before a perfectly timed inside pass from Kendrick opened the door for Ben Gilchrist to score on the cusp of half time. This time the extras slipped away. Sudbury 10 – 26 Hertford. HT

Both sides started the second half strongly with hard running and strong defence evident all over the field. Unfortunately, only 3 minutes in, the influential James Thacker had to leave the field due to finding out he owns a hamstring. We wish him well and hope for a speedy recovery.

The next 10 minutes were Sudbury’s best of the game. In what looked to be an attack that would fizzle out 2 Hartford defenders collided attempting a tackle on the Sudbury winger, which allowed him to run in unimpeded for an unconverted try. Sudbury 15 Hertford 26

Almost immediately Sudbury were back on the attack and sloppy defending in broken midfield play saw their center run sideways passed 3 defenders to set up an overlap which the winger capitalized on with another unconverted try. Sudbury 20-26 Hertford

The Hartford collective blood pressure was lowered a little a couple of minutes later when Davies slotted a penalty to restore the two score buffer zone. Sudbury 20-29 Hertford

Hartford were still producing chances and came very close after a typical Alex Banna burst from half way was followed by good inter passing, almost finished off by David Hale who was dragged down two metres short. He would have scored if he was 7 foot 2.

Hertford had another chance to extend their lead on 70 minutes with a long-range penalty that fell a little short and wide.

Sudbury enjoyed the last change to the score board after at No.8 made good ground from the scrum pickup, putting the Hertford defence on the back foot before play was switched and Sudbury crossed the whitewash with the last play of the game. Again, they failed to add the extras Sudbury 25 - 29Hertford FT

Congratulations to prop, Finn Bloomer, who made his senior debut for Hertford. Finn is another product of our mini and youth system and currently has and Academy contract with Saracens. Having watched him in the school's finals at Twickenham for Richard Hale he clearly has a good future in the game.

This was a good win for Hertford and the lads can be proud of the victory.

Let's hope the injury to James Thacker is not too serious and we can get him back on the field sooner rather than later. He's clearly a big influence on the team and as well is being a great player physically, it is clear from watching him that he brings a heightened level of focus and concentration for the 80 minutes that is required to achieve at this and higher levels.

Whilst he obviously brings something extra, the team are capable of achieving what is required without his physical input. They just need to believe in themselves.