Cents Reserves Do The Double Over Hemel 03.07.08
GAME 1. Hemel 26 -v- 34 Cents. Sunday 29th June. St Albans Centurions second team made the short journey across the M1 on Sunday to take on old rivals Hemel Stags in their London merit League fixture. Due to a couple of late withdrawals, Cents started the game with only 12 players, and much to their credit, Hemel only fielded an equal number, which was very sporting of them. Its an old cliche, but a game of two halves is how it was described, with St Albans the stronger, more skillful team in the first half and racking up a good half time lead.
In the second half both teams came out strongly, but tiredness began to take its toll on the Cents and Hemel began their fightback. Towards the finish it was end to end play as both teams fought to control the game with Hemel coming close, but Cents managed to dig deep and hold on to secure the win. Scorers were Nikolas Fountain, Shane Rampling, Toby Turk, Hywell Davis, Oliver Fountain, and John Langdon.
GAME 2. Cents 56 -v- 32 Hemel - Wednesday 2nd July St Albans Centurions Development squad "did the double" over local rivals Hemel Stags ll's in the second of their two games in four days in the London Merit League. The game started off at a great pace with both teams getting stuck in as both teams in a local Derby game tend to do. After about 15 minutes it was obvious that St Albans were begining to get into the lead with a couple of fine tries and then Hemel, probably stung by the thought of losing two games to Cents, began to go for the big hits and gang tackles - but when these don't come off, it leaves lots of space for the other team to exploit - and exploit them they did, leading 24 -10 at half time. The Hemel coach was desperate for his side to 'steady' and play expansive rugby, but unfortunately in the second half, Cents ran in a couple of early tries and the Hemel squad let their hearts rule their heads again, getting sucked into a game of attrition, whereas the youngsters (plus one 39 year old!!!) from St Albans played a good steady game and began to pile on the points. Stags never gave up and kept up the pressure and got a couple of tries in the last quarter, but it wasn't enough and Cents have won the local bragging rights for the next 12 months. Pics from the game will be on the Gallery page shortly.
