Hertfordshire 38 - 30 Lancashire
Sunday 27 May 2012
Hertordshire became the latest name to claim a County Championship title, as they beat their victors of 2011.
A cagey opening period in the searing London heat led to a first score on 23 minutes, as Chris May chased his grubber on the right wing, and got to the ball first despite two pairs of desperate Lancastrian hands to put Hertfordshire ahead. Tom Newton missed the conversion attempt.
Warren Spragg equalised six minutes later, scoring after working his way past two tackles as he made his way in front the left wing. Although his ankle was tapped on the way to the line, he kept his composure to score in a great position for Chris Johnson to add the extras.
Hertfordshire regained the lead through a penalty goal from replacement Tom Coleman, as he kicked from 30 metres out.
Despite uncharacteristic handling errors which peppered the game throughout, Evan Stewart was unlucky not to have crossed, as he was held up over the line just before half-time. A Johnson penalty from the resulting scrum gave Lancashire a 10-8 lead going into the second half.
Lancashire kicked off the second half, and on Hertfordshire’s return, some juggling in the Lancashire 22 led to Tom Newton intercepting and scoring with ease. Coleman’s conversion give Hertfordshire a five point lead, before Simon Griffiths was yellow carded for dangerous play in the ruck.
Down to 14 men, Lancashire then shipped ten points, at a stage of the game which had been pretty even. Coleman scored from a penalty on the 22 metre line in front of the posts, before Eoin Sheriff squirmed past two tackles to go down between the posts, for a simple Coleman conversion.
Any opportunity at reducing the deficit was being taken, as Johnson kicked successfully from within the Hertfordshire ten metre line on 55 minutes.
Replacement scrum half Callum McShane injected some pace into the game for Lancashire, with some fine passing out from the scrum, as well as good running, catching out his opposite number.
But Hertfordshire’s defence remained resolute, and they added another Coleman penalty before their last try of the afternoon on 65 minutes. Chris Briers had made a great run deep into Hertfordshire territory, as he had done all through the campaign, but found himself isolated at the breakdown. Ben Ransom carried deep into the Lancashire half from the penalty, offloading to Chris May, who scored, for Coleman to add the extras once more.
Even though there was a 22 point gap, Lancashire never gave up, and Steve Briers scored with ten minutes to play, for a Johnson conversion.
It was still a massive task to come back, and the result was confirmed once Coleman scored a penalty six minutes from time.
A cagey opening period in the searing London heat led to a first score on 23 minutes, as Chris May chased his grubber on the right wing, and got to the ball first despite two pairs of desperate Lancastrian hands to put Hertfordshire ahead. Tom Newton missed the conversion attempt.
Warren Spragg equalised six minutes later, scoring after working his way past two tackles as he made his way in front the left wing. Although his ankle was tapped on the way to the line, he kept his composure to score in a great position for Chris Johnson to add the extras.
Hertfordshire regained the lead through a penalty goal from replacement Tom Coleman, as he kicked from 30 metres out.
Despite uncharacteristic handling errors which peppered the game throughout, Evan Stewart was unlucky not to have crossed, as he was held up over the line just before half-time. A Johnson penalty from the resulting scrum gave Lancashire a 10-8 lead going into the second half.
Lancashire kicked off the second half, and on Hertfordshire’s return, some juggling in the Lancashire 22 led to Tom Newton intercepting and scoring with ease. Coleman’s conversion give Hertfordshire a five point lead, before Simon Griffiths was yellow carded for dangerous play in the ruck.
Down to 14 men, Lancashire then shipped ten points, at a stage of the game which had been pretty even. Coleman scored from a penalty on the 22 metre line in front of the posts, before Eoin Sheriff squirmed past two tackles to go down between the posts, for a simple Coleman conversion.
Any opportunity at reducing the deficit was being taken, as Johnson kicked successfully from within the Hertfordshire ten metre line on 55 minutes.
Replacement scrum half Callum McShane injected some pace into the game for Lancashire, with some fine passing out from the scrum, as well as good running, catching out his opposite number.
But Hertfordshire’s defence remained resolute, and they added another Coleman penalty before their last try of the afternoon on 65 minutes. Chris Briers had made a great run deep into Hertfordshire territory, as he had done all through the campaign, but found himself isolated at the breakdown. Ben Ransom carried deep into the Lancashire half from the penalty, offloading to Chris May, who scored, for Coleman to add the extras once more.
Even though there was a 22 point gap, Lancashire never gave up, and Steve Briers scored with ten minutes to play, for a Johnson conversion.
It was still a massive task to come back, and the result was confirmed once Coleman scored a penalty six minutes from time.
Hertfordshire
15 Tom Newton (Tring) 14 Chris May (Old Albanians) 13 Ben Ransom (Saracens) 12 Chris Lombaard (Old Albanians) 11 Michael Allen (Hertford) 10 James Shanahan (Old Albanians) 9 Stefan Liebenberg (Old Albanians) 1 Jared Saunders (Saracens) 2 Brett MacNamee (Hertford) (Capt.) 3 Petrus du Plessis (Saracens) 4 Tom Jubb (Cambridge) 5 Eoin Sheriff (Saracens) 6 Ollie Cooper-Miller (Old Albanians) 7 Rod Farenheim (Old Albanians) 8 Billy Johnson (Bedford) 16 Rob Schillaci (Hertford) 17 Stuart Bailey (Old Albanians) 18 Marco Cecere (Old Albanians) 19 Craig South (Hertford) 20 Tom Mowbray (Chinnor) 21 Tom Coleman (Bishop's Stortford) 22 Richard Gregg (Old Albanians) |
Lancashire
15 Chris Briers (Fylde) 14 Nick Royle (Fylde) 13 Stephen Briers (Fylde) 12 Richard Kenyon (Fylde) 11 Warren Spragg (Petrarca Padova) 10 Chris Johnson (Huddersfield) 9 Ryan De la Harpe (Moseley) 1 Dan Birchall (Sedgley Park) 2 Alex Loney (Fylde) (Capt.) 3 Richard Morton (Preston Grasshoppers) 4 Paul Arnold (Fylde) 5 Gareth Rawlings (Fylde) 6 Sam Beaumont (Fylde) 7 Evan Stewart (Fylde) 8 Dominic Moon (Preston Grasshoppers) 16 Simon Griffiths (Fylde) 17 Peter Altham (Fylde) 18 Mark Rylance (Caldy) 19 Ben Vernon (Tarleton) 20 Oliver Brennand (Fylde) 21 Matthew Riley (Sedgley Park) 22 Callum McShane (Fylde) |
Scorers -
Hertfordshire Tries - May 23 65, Newton 41, Sheriff 48 Conversions - Coleman 41 48 65 PG - Coleman 31 46 58 74 Lancashire Tries - Spragg 29, S Briers 70 Conversions - Johnson 29 70 PG - Johnson 40 55 |