As predicted Tring faced a tough opposition on Bishops Stortford at their ground. We always knew this would be a tricky proposition and it certainly turned out that way. Ultimately Tring played more as a team and their structure and fantastic defence payed dividends. Throughout the match Tring were willing to through their bodies at anything that came their way. This was typified by Michael Hicks who was awarded man of the match for his excellent all round game. This was closely followed by Tom Whlyd and Will Mitchell who directed the team superbly from half back and fly half respectively. Will had assumed the captaincy for the day as Jack Draper was injured but still got himself over to BS to help the team out, turns out his camera skills and commentary will be missed when he gets back on the pitch, Mat Boswell also travelled although unable to play and help the squad out with various duties, this is very much appreciated and shows the fantastic atmosphere in the 2nd team. Will was superb at taking the ball to the opposition and this allowed th forwards and backs to run off of him lead by Chris Rose who was outstanding again.
Hixxy said of his man of the match “It is 8 years this week since I broke my jaw, I would like to dedicate this win to my former face”.
It was not only the defence that was great, our attacking play was also impressive with patience and phase play leading to some of the best tries I have seen at 2nd team level. Guy Fountaine from flanker had several runs and showed great pace, as did James Smith. In reality it is unfair to single out people for praise. The whole squad played extremely well in what was a fantastic game of rugby to watch and be involved in. Jack Hunter and brother Harry made impressive returns, and a young prop made a very good impact by the name of Matt Phillipson.
It was good to see Zak Michalski back on the pitch after over two years out through injury. He had a good game playing out of position and helping the team by doing so. He showed he has not lost any of that pace and will push for a first team spot in the coming weeks.
All in all, this was a great game of rugby played by two evenly matched teams who played fairly and in the spirit of the game. More of this please. Well done to both teams but especially to Tring 2nds who stuck to their plans, showed patience and an ability to wear down the opposition.