Twickenham U14’s Match Summary
Twickenham Hemel Hempstead	v	26 Nov 2006	League
		Away	Draw (5 – 5)

It was an away game at Hemel Hempstead, 45 minutes round the M25 in appalling weather conditions. Would the game be a wash out before it started? Luck was on our side, as the pitch wasn't even water logged, just soft ground. I was asked to write the match report, and reluctantly accepted but not before stating how I would find it very difficult to write and cheer our team on at the same time. Apologies if I have missed things out, but I do get very involved with the game.

Twickenham kicked off and had the advantage of playing down a slight incline. There was an early scrum, which I think we won, with Harry leaving an impression on me with his particularly good footwork to avoid the opposition. Then there was a penalty to us. Can't remember why, but who cares. The ball was passed down the line, which gave Jay an opportunity for a good run, but unfortunately taken down by Hemel's defence. Twickenham were putting the pressure on Hemel, with good passing down the line resulting in Ollie passing to Sammy Yamuah, who had a good run down the side, but was taken down again by Hemel.

Hemel were pushing hard towards our try line, but we fought back with a kick into their half with them kicking it back towards the side line. James Stone ran back to try and stop the ball from going out, but although he got to the ball he couldn't stop himself skidding past the line. Hemel won the line out and pushed up towards our 22 yard line, where there was a knock on resulting in a scrum. Unfortunately, a try was scored by Hemel, but without being converted. The whistle blew for half time(seemed like a short first half) and the coaches went on to encourage the lads for the second half.

Second half kicked off and almost immediately we started rucking and winning. There was a blatant off side by Hemel that was completely ignored by the ref. (Didn't someone remind him that he left his glasses in the changing rooms). This was just one of many off sides that were overlooked and came to frustrate the coaches and many others on the side lines (me included). Eventually, through sheer determination and a screaming voice, the ref seemed to hear Lawrence and gave us a penalty. There were so many off sides I lost track, so I can't remember if it was on this occasion or one of the others that the Hemel number 8 threw the ball off the pitch (probably due to the frustration of being caught) and the ref made them go back another 10 yards, after being told off for poor sportsmanship.

It was a slow first 10 minutes to the second half, but boy, did Twickenham dominate the remainder. I can only describe it as a relentless assault on Hemel's defence with us being so close to their try lines that although we didn't score it wasn't for the want of trying. Again the ref failed to see Hemel's blatant off sides, but the comment from Rob Cowley regarding a scene from crime watch earned the club another fiver and made us smile. Our boys went on to set up a great run, with the ball eventually being passed to Sammy, then to Jay and finally to Pritvi where the wet ball slipped through his grasp while on the try line. At this point I was screaming support at our boys so much, I forgot to write down anything else. From memory Hemel started pushing back, but we pushed back even harder continuing the pressure until at last we broke through with a fantastic try by Joe Griffin. This was our chance to go 2 points up with the conversion, but it was not to be. Harry gave it his best from a difficult position.

Lee Payne told Lawrence about how many hands he had seen going into the rucks time and again to pull the ball out, and they weren't Twickenhams. Soon after the heavens opened to drench us all with the final whistle being blown.

We drew but deserved to win, given the opportunities we created. Final score 5-5.

Michael Whelan

	Twickenham	Hemel Hempstead
Final score:	5	5
Half-time score:	0	5
Tries:	1	1
Penalty Tries:	0	0
Conversions: (Successful / Attempted)	0 / 1	0 / 1
Penalty Goals: (Successful / Attempted)
Drop Goals: (Successful / Attempted)