London Nigerians 35 Welwyn 20

A torrid day for Welwyn who came up against a very well drilled, confident and fit Staines side. Welwyn started well and spent the first five minutes hounding the Staines line. However, Staines settled into their game and within 10 minutes had scored the first of their tries, which they converted to give them a 7-0 lead. The experience that the Staines players have gained from playing several seasons at this level showed and Welwyn were punished by the visiting club for missing too many first time tackles, allowing the opposition to score some very well worked tries. Staines increased their lead to 10 points with a penalty after 15 minutes. In quick succession they scored four further tries, converting two of them to give them a 34-0 lead. Welwyn continued to try to attack the Staines line but were too often on the back foot trying to stem the tide of the Staines attack. The referee played about 8 minutes of injury time in the first half, and Staines had a comfortable 46-0 lead by the time he blew the half time whistle.

Welwyn made a determined start to the second half and organised themselves better to prevent Staines from adding to their score. The three substitutes were all soon on, with Nick Elliott replacing Rob Picken, Rob Muggridge replacing Martin Cannon and Frank Sutherland replacing Dean Storah. Rob Gardener moved back to his usual position of centre and Frank Sutherland took his place on the flank. Fortunately for Welwyn, Staines’ giant second row Junior Harrison, who is Audley Harrison’s brother and who is the size of two men, was substituted as well. Welwyn made some encouraging breaks and for the first time in the game Staines had to defend their line. 25 minutes into the second half, Welwyn were rewarded with a well worked try to allow Alex Cross to score. Staines, however, soon reasserted their authority and scored two more tries to bring their total to 56. Welwyn lost the second half by 10 points to 5 but unfortunately the damage had been done in the first half and the deficit was too great to make up. Man of the match was Peter Elliott.

Welwyn play Tabard away in the league next week and are at home to Basingstoke in the cup the following Saturday.

Team 
Full Back Henry Child
Wing Peter Elliott
Centre Luke Williams
Centre Dean Storah
Wing Alex Cross
Fly Half Gareth Hughes
Scrum Half Yourgos Alexander
No 8 Justin Joubert
Flanker Rob James
Flanker Rob Gardener
Second Row Rob Picken
Second Row William Freeston
Prop Grant Keeler
Hooker Simon Banks
Prop Martin Cannon
 
Substitutes
Nick Elliott
Robert Muggridge
Frank Sutherland