Roundhegians

Hegians welcomed local rivals Wetherby hoping to continue the good form they showed the previous week at West Park. Wetherby had also had a good win the previous week and with both teams close to full strength it looked like it would be a tough game.

Hegians got off to a poor start as a scrum in their own 22 had them under pressure that led to them conceding a penalty. Wetherby opted for the scrum and despite holding the initial push, Hegians were soon retreating and gave away a penalty. Hegians were lucky not to give away a penalty try but in the end it did not matter as they opted for another scrum and got a pushover try.

After that setback Hegians were soon on the attack and were able to go through several phases and a good run by Henry Wareham set up a good attacking position. The pressure led to a penalty out wide on the 22 and Alex Jones opted for the penalty attempt but unfortunately pushed it wide of the posts.

Straight from the drop out Hegians were again able to put Wetherby under pressure and only a good turnover by  Wetherby prevented a score. The kick out was taken by Jonny Thorpe and quick hands to the right put winger Alex Miyambo in space and from 40 yards out he jinked his way past 5 Wetherby defenders to score a superb individual try under the posts. Alex Jones made the conversion to level the scores.

From the kick off James Dobson pushed Hegians back on the attack with an excellent kick into the Wetherby 22 and after a mix up between the winger and full back it led to a scrum 5 metres from the Wetherby line. Hegians were in trouble again at the scrum and conceded a penalty so that Wetherby were able to relieve the pressure. Hegians were soon back in the Wetherby 22 and at the next scrum the Wetherby hooker was penalised for an early strike and with Dave Wilson taking a quick tap the Wetherby defence was penalised for not retreating and this led to a penalty that was converted by Alex Jones.

From the kick off Hegians worked their way down the field and were able to work through several phases pushing the ball to the left and quickly back to the right. After retaining possession for a while centre Henry Wareham made a strong break and despite a high tackle he was able to force his way to the line and score the try close to the posts. With Alex Jones making the conversion this took Hegians to a  17-7 lead.

Another charge down by Henry Wareham led to a good opportunity but Wetherby cleared the danger. However, as it got close to half time Wetherby were penalised for coming in from the side and Alex Jones opted to kick for goal from 48 metres out and with an excellent strike managed to add the 3 points to take the half time score to 20-7.

At the start of the second half Wetherby conceded a penalty on half way and with a big up and under James Dobson pressurised the Wetherby defence and they ended up giving away a penalty 30 metres out. Alex Jones immediately took the chance for a further 3 points from the penalty.

Wetherby finally managed to exert some pressure and forced a penalty close to the posts but rather than opt for the kick at goal they pushed it into the corner for an attacking line out. It took a good interception at the line out from Ali Coe to relieve the pressure and Hegians forced a scrum on half way. The Hegians scrum was more stable now and this allowed the backs  to produce a good attacking move to the right to put Jonny Thorpe in space and a neat inside pass back to Alex Jones allowed him to score in the corner. With the failed conversion the lead now stood at  28-7 but with Alex Jones now injured he had to be replaced by Greg Robinson returning to the first team after a long absence from the team. Hegians were soon back on the attack and forcing penalties and it was inevitable that this would lead to a yellow card but with Hegians pushing for the bonus point try Wetherby gave another penalty away in front of the posts and lost another player to a yellow card. James Dobson kicked the penalty to push the lead to 31-7.

With Wetherby down to 13 players it was not long before Hegians were back on the attack and with a big overlap on the left James Dobson was able to threaten the wide pass and just hang on to power to the line from 25 metres out to score the bonus point try. He completed the conversion for his own try to take the lead to 38-7.

With the bonus point achieved Hegians relaxed  and Wetherby then raised their game and a powerful run from the centre allowed them to score a try by the posts. The conversion it took the score to  38-14 and Wetherby started to rally now and it took good tackles from Nat Robinson and Alex Miyambo to stop promising moves from the Wetherby backs. A good tackle from Greg Robinson stopped a further attack from Wetherby down the middle.

The game was starting to break up now as both teams tired and Hegians weathered the Wetherby revival and although Hegians came close to scoring they did miss a couple of clear chances to score. However, eventually a good move to the right put Ali Coe in space and he was able to score the final try out wide.

Wetherby were back on the attack for the last few minutes but determined defence from Hegians kept them out

Full Time : Roundhegians 43 – Wetherby 14

This was a strong performance by Hegians who looked strong in defence and worked hard for the full 80 minutes. The hard work in training is starting to show as the team was well organised and played some good rugby throughout. The pack were able to produce qood quality quick ball and the backs always looked dangerous.

Next Saturday Hegians are away at newly promoted Wensleydale and that will be another difficult test.