The forwards really earned their supper by helping to recover what looked like a tough assignment on paper and was a very tough one after 20 minutes of shadow catching. The established Termites pack (i.e. veterans and super veterans) very much welcomed university youngster Tom Baker back to the team for his first outing since the Cup Final in April. Whilst the old heads may think they know everything, there is still a significant role for young talented players that can actually do the things the old heads talk about.

The Termites also welcomed Jed Greville and Olly Shanley to the team, who provided yet more of the youthful elixir i.e. lots of tackling, tracking back, and hard running. Thanks.

Bishops Stortford played their cards early, demonstrating the familiar expansive running rugby ethos. From the outset, Stortford looked to go wide, and Hertford hit them back. Douglas put himself about everywhere, and sometimes that everywhere was a little too high. Stortford ran; Hertford roared.

Eventually, Stortford broke through once to score and then again to make it 0-12. The outside centre was gliding through gaps, or stepping through the defensive line, and then devouring the space that he found in front of him. He also had plenty of support from the rest of his pacy backline. This was hard. Some of the Hertford crowd later admitted that they were predicating that the Stortford captain would be buying a jug that evening. Everyone can appreciate quality, but the Termites needed to do something to stem the flow – and if that meant some 9 man rugby, then so be it.

Roberts led the charge by encouraging the forwards to take the direct line, and pick and go. Finally with some possession, Hertford were able to get into the Stortford 22 and force a 5 metre scrum. Here was the moment to lay down a marker, and the pack stepped up. Heltsley, well and truly converted from his American Football days, was now offering a masterclass in tight head totemic domination. Not only was he the rock around which the scrum advanced, he even managed to get his loose head into the air. Whilst there don’t appear to be any photos of this feat, a similar one from many moons ago is offered in the pictures. Jason powered through, and Humphries took the left of the scrum to within a metre of the try line and Roe scooped up and drove over to score. A massive shift that we were not going to be able to maintain for the rest of the game, but which gave Hertford an inkling about how they could win the game and a counterpoint to the crucial final scrum of the game. Notwithstanding the avalanche of possession that Hertford had to deal with, this was not a consolation try – this was the code for victory.

Stortford scored again to make it 5-17, but Hertford were growing into the game. Bullen absolutely bulldozered one of their backs to show that they could be tackled, and Greville and Ball were making progress in the centres.

We eventually found some space in the backs, and Brewer scooted out wide and ran round under the posts to make it 12-17.

With the half coming to a close, Hertford had another long bout of defending but were no longer overawed by the challenge in front of them. With the last play of the half, Stortford stole through to make it 12-24.

Bench-Captain-Coach Gawthorne was straight onto the pitch at half time to tell us how terribly the team had played. Whilst 10% possession may not be a pretty thing to watch, the players were not persuaded by the bench's view of the game, and were in fact enthused for a second half of opportunities.

The spirit of the players was quite right, and the direct impactful play from Hertford from the outset of the second half finally put pressure onto Stortford. Heltsley was hurtling into the contact, making big yards, and Hertford gathered momentum and began drawing penalties from Stortford. With advantage from a penalty deep in the Stortford half, Hertford had the choice of rolling the dice in attack or taking the penalty to kick into the corner. In theory, Hertford also had the choice of going for a speculative drop goal, but that wasn’t really a choice as it wasn’t what we wanted and not really in the spirit of the Termites. This was Hobson's choice: of course you go for the try. Captain Albon defied the received wisdom of old men, and went for the drop goal. It was a very decent drop goal, but still teammates groaned; others mused about building a score. By moving from 12 to 15-24, there was some logic to building a score, but it didn’t feel right. Fortunately, it did feel right at the end of the game and those derided drop goal points were crucial.

Hertford continued with their tried and tested formula, which also included an effective lineout and rolling maul. Wham bam, as Hertford edged towards the Stortford line through phases of play, and Thomas powered his way over the line for his first try in, we are reliably informed, 5 years (why would you ever admit to that!). It was a really important try as we built to 22-24.

The game began to open up at this stage as Stortford realised that they were in for a game. As Stortford attacked towards Hertford's 22, Albon took one of his trademark interceptions, but this time realised he would need to run – and run hard. Having made it to Stortford's 10 metre line out wide, he spotted that the ever enthusiastic Bullen was chasing through the middle and the cross field kick was on. The booted ball bobbled towards the Stortford posts as Bullen and a Stortford player careered after it. Stortford just got there first, but was only rewarded with a goaline drop out. Douglas regathered the drop out, distributed, and Hertford were on the charge again in the 22. Arch tryline snuffler, Roberts, was on hand to skip in to score in the corner.

Finally, Hertford were ahead: 27-24. After more efforts by Bullen, Hertford forced their way into the Stortford 22 again and hoped to turn the screw. At this point, Stortford pulled out their 'get out of jail' card, when from a scrum 5 metres from their line they finally released their backs again with the outside centre storming up the pitch to create another score. Fortunately, the Hertford defence tracked back and forced them out wide so the conversion was missed. 27-29 to Stortford with 6 minutes left to play.

There was time. Indeed, there was enough time for the game to swing this way and that.

Hertford went back to their basics and attacked down the middle, eventually extracting a penalty 30 metres out in front of the posts. Having done the unTermitey drop goal earlier, the only choice this time was to go for the penalty. Breath held, the ball boomed through the middle.
30-29, and 2 minutes to play. A solid restart, with some phases and Hertford could finish it off. Easy.

Easier written than done by very tired souls. Possession was handed back to Stortford via a scrum 30 metres out, and the Stortford backs saw their chance. Could Hertford take them on in the front five to regain possession? Nope, not a runner, there was nothing left. Fortunately, whilst the bodies of most of the pack were tired, Offord's rugby brain was working overtime. Cheered on by his sons for at least 3 hours, Offy pulled a masterstroke. Realising Hertford couldn’t beat Stortford with brawn in this final scrum, he was going to have to go all out for the counter-hook, which if not successful would give Stortford a big advantage in the scrum. Fortunately, Offy saved the day, stole the ball off Stortford with his hook, and we were able to kick the ball to safety. Magnificent work. Game over. Well reffed and well attended.

Post-script:

In the post-match changing room debrief, millennial Jack Humphries was challenged for giving his view that there was some injustice in him having to come off early with an ankle injury, when he would have loved the opportunity to contribute to the second half. He was promptly shouted down for expressing his feelings, and told that he should think about the injuries that other people had faced. Being awake to such sensibilities just isn’t on, and some of the wiseling stalwarts muttered that 'the game had gone'. However, the mind virus is strong, and Jack was later heard asking Kev if there was a tofu version of the excellent toad in the hole.

Starters: Humphries, Offord, Heltsley, Dixon, Baker, Church, Douglas, Roe; Roberts, Albon (c), Bullen, Ball, Greville, Shanley, Brewer
Enders: Scully, Carpenter, Thomas, Flaherty, Risley
Tries: Roe, Brewer, Thomas, Roberts
Cons: Albon x 2
Drop Goal gold / shame: Albon
Penalty gold / shame: Albon