The 1st XV have their second home game on the bounce this week as we welcome high flying Sudbury RFC who remain unbeaten after three games but sit second in the league on points difference.

Vocal support is assured as this week's prematch lunch welcomes many of our Vice Presidents to their annual Hoe Lane pilgrimage. No doubt, as kick off approaches and drink is taken, the room will be filled with a hundred plus of the best players Hertford have ever fielded and whose knowledge of the modern game and ever changing laws is unsurpassed.

On a serious note these are the shoulders upon which our modern day club stands and whilst they may occasionally be critical, all should realise that at the end of the day you will always have their full support.

These ‘ old farts’ and their gatherings, help to cement the club's history and have been fundamental in making it the great family club we have today.

No greater manifestation of that can be seen in the form of First XV debutante Harry Palmer, a 3rd generation Palmer to pull on the Jersey, almost 23 years to the day after his Grandad Lester left us on his final whistle. Some may disagree but I reckon if he could see Harry run out tomorrow, he may even have broken into a smile! If that's a bit of a stretch don't worry as middle Palmer, Edward, will be smiling enough for both.

Having a 3rd generation player in the side is a great testament to any club but this week we don't stop there as within the front row James Bovaird is also a 3rd generation player and moving into the centre spot today we have 3rd generation Oran Riddle, son of our current president and grandson of a past president.

And as if all that weren't enough we have Hugo Creasey following in his Grandad's footsteps and three others pulling on the shirt after their dads. as Al Murray would say “Faaaaaaammmily”.

Last week's loss was a tough one. After an excellent start, I'm sure the players would agree, we allowed Old Colfeians back into the game with some lapses in defensive concentration. With the game then level we were unable to finish a number of opportunities in the last 10 to 15 minutes. However, on the positive side, we had created those opportunities to take the spoils and I'm sure the coaching team and players will have analyzed why and will be working on the last five percent . We still came away with two bonus points and are sitting a very healthy fifth in the league.

The 2nd XV are on the road this week with a tough fixture over at Old Albanians. Let's see if they can continue the excellent start to the season.

The 3rd XV were scheduled to play Stevenage who have unfortunately dropped out late in the week and at the time of writing no replacement fixture has been found.

So let's make sure cheers and support are heard from the sidelines and an evening of blending the old in the new enjoyed.

See you there, mine’s a Guinness.