Sat 21 Sep 2019, 15:00
Hegians went into the game at Wensleydale with the confidence of having won their first two games. With Dale Cowling and Harry Wollaston making their first appearances of the season, Hegians started the game brightly and were quickly on the attack and it looked like a try would come quickly. However, Hegians were a bit over anxious and passes went astray and the chance was lost. Hegians kept the pressure up and eventually Wensleydale conceded a penalty and Alex Jones struck it well from over 40 metres out to open the scoring.
From the kick off Hegians were careless with their exit and Wensleydale started attacking and this forced Hegians to have to defend. Wensleydale had some strong runners and eventually they forced their way over the line to score close to the posts. With the added conversion it took the score to Wensleydale 7- Roundhegians 3.
Hegians were stung by this try and produced a string of attacks as they moved the ball quickly and effectively across the field and then back again. This allowed Alex Miyambo to touch down in the corner with a strong finish.
For the next 20 minutes Hegians were in almost complete control as they controlled field position with some good kicking from James Dobson and Harry Wollaston and were able to go through phases and threaten the Wensleydale defence. In addition the Hegians line out functioned well and was able to disrupt the Wensleydale line out and this allowed Hegians to camp in the opposition 22.
Hegians forced a Wensleydale line out in their own 22 and with the pressure from Hegians the ball went loose and flanker Dave Gregory was the first to react and scored the try. Alex Jones slotted the conversion to take Hegians into a 15-7 lead. More pressure from Hegians led to a poor kick out of defence by Wensleydale which was collected by centre Elliot Jackson who outpaced the defence to score a try in the corner. With the conversion just missing the score was now Wensleydale 7 -Roundhegians 20.
Hegians looked certain to get the bonus point before half time as they mounted a number of attacks but mistakes under pressure and some errors in decision making meant that they didn’t add to the score by half time and that would prove to be a problem by the end of the game
Half Time : Wensleydale 7 - Roundhegians 20
In the second half Hegians were immediately under pressure and forced to defend by a Wensleydale team who were determined not to lose their good home record. Hegians were well organised in defence and cleared their lines well with good set piece and some good kicks from Harry Wollaston and James Dobson. However, Wensleydale were soon back on the attack and on 60 minutes they forced over for a try and with the conversion this took the score to Wensleydale 14- Roundhegians 20.
This spurred Hegians on and soon they were on the attack again to take the game into the opposition territory and after a number of penalties conceded by Wensleydale at the breakdown Alex Jones was able to kick the penalty.
Hegians looked to add to this lead but were not accurate enough to score and after getting caught in possession conceded a penalty which Wensleydale landed to put them just 6 points down. Hegians responded immediately and came back at Wensleydale and in a series of phases were able to manoeuvre their way to the centre of the field so that James Dobson could strike an excellent drop goal to extend the lead to 26-17.
With 5 minutes to go it looked like Hegians had managed the game well but they then made things incredibly difficult for themselves. Some poor defending allowed Wensleydale to score a try, although there did seem to be a forward pass in the build up. With 1 minute left all Hegians had to do was play out the game safely but after making a mess of the return kick from the kick off they had to defend an opposing scrum from 10 metres out. Only some good tackling and a forced turnover allowed Hegians to close out the game and get the win
Full Time Wensleydale 24 – Roundhegians 26
Hegians were relieved to get their third win of the season and remain unbeaten but it was hard work against a tough Wensleydale team who showed that they would not be easy to play against at home this season.
Next Saturday Hegians will be hoping to continue the good form when they meet Wheatley Hills at home ko 3.00pm
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