| Hitchin Rugby | 15 |
| Old Streetonians RFC | 43 |
Old Streetonians RFC secured their tenth win in a row on Saturday with an impressive 15-43 victory at Hitchin. The side’s winning streak is the longest in the Counties 1 Hertfordshire/Middlesex league this season.
Driven by the Onions pack and a hat-trick from explosive ball-carrying no.8 Elliot Handler, the visitors turned around a weak first half showing to subdue a spirited Hitchin team with a powerful second-half display.
The Onions would have taken confidence from the fact they had beaten Hitchin 59-14 in late February, despite accruing a double-digit penalty count and picking up three yellow cards that day.
A groggy coach trip wasn’t the only difficulty the Onions overcame. The ill-discipline that has plagued the team’s season resurfaced and a dubious first-half refereeing decision to disallow scrum half Jake McCarroll’s “try” slowed the visitors’ progress.
The Onions edged ahead through the first of Handler’s three tries, McCarroll’s would-be try already having been disallowed by a blindsided referee. A mistake from the subsequent restart allowed Hitchin to immediately get onto the scoresheet. The hosts followed up minutes later with a penalty to lead 8-7. The Onions then hit back with their second try, but the club’s veteran fly half Ojo Fitzpatrick failed to convert leaving Old Street with a narrow 8-12 lead at the half.
In the second-half, the Onions’ offloading came to the fore immediately as they ran in four tries inside the first 20 minutes, more than securing the vital four-try attacking bonus-point, as well as Handler’s hattrick, to push the score out to 8-36. Fitzpatrick converted two of the four.
Hitchin added a converted consolation try in the 69th minute, before Onions prop and 2014 Britain’s Got Talent winner, Richard Hadfield, forced his way over for the final try of the game, converted by Fitzpatrick.
The win moves the Onions up to third in the league, keeping the pressure on leaders London Scottish Lions who also won comfortably at the weekend, 7-47 at Ruislip. Scottish now sit on 85 points with Cheshunt in second on 76 after their 67-0 thrashing of Datchworth. The Onions are in third on 75 points. Chiswick, previously second, suffered a surprising 28-21 defeat away at eleventh place Hampstead, shaking up the top of the table as they drop down to fifth below Finchley.
All eyes on must win game against Welwyn
On Saturday at Hackney Marshes the Onions host sixth place Welwyn, the last side to beat them back in early December. Hampered by wet and windy conditions in the garden city, the Onions failed to establish their usual attacking pattern on the day, losing 27-12. Old Street will hope to turn the tide at home, before facing London Scottish on 6 April in what could be a final day title showdown at Hackney Marshes.
London Scottish play seventh place Hitchin at the Richmond Athletic Ground on Saturday. Meanwhile Cheshunt travel to newly fourth place Finchley in what ought to be a tight encounter.
Elsewhere in the borough, Hackney RFC were unsurprisingly beaten by Finchley 28-50 last weekend. Hackney remain ninth on 25 points but should pick up a win on Saturday against last place Enfield Ignatians.
