With all four senior sides out on Saturday, the HRFC Captains did a great job to ensure full team sheets and even some subs – which were definitely needed amongst the Termites given the abrasive 80 minutes ahead of them.

Hertford heartily welcomed Wilson back to fold and away from his schooling duties. Hugo hit hard and ran rampantly in his itinerant back row / centre roles, rubbishing the suggestion that having a young family and full time job could be tiring.

The Termites also welcomed youngster Hagen-Hamish-Hamlet Whitaker to the team, another prodigious product of the Richard Hale magic rugby tree (Simon Balle have also produced some decent ones as well). A direct, combative back rower, he has the attributes and dedication to have a great rugby career.

At the other end of the backrow triptych, was Chris Byrne, a stalwart battleship at No 8, who is held out by many of the other players as evidence and justification for playing "one more season".

Hertford were ready to go from the off, with the back row combining with the expansive backline. Wilson kicked off the scoring to make it 5-0 following a quick penalty and brushing aside the big Bishops in his way.

Anstead was using his pace to make problems for Stortford out wide, and when we kicked behind, ably supported by backline partner Alway.
Hertford were definitely on top at this stage, with Preece orchestrating the choir to remind us that Welshmen can play rugby. He pranced through the defensive line time and again, and when 10 metres out and Ball outside him in acres of space, all the Hertford players (including Chris himself) knew that the 1970s show and go was about to come out, as Sion sauntered over the line in style to make it 10-0.

Unfortunately, Ball injured his wrist soon afterwards and had to spend the rest of the day in A&E. As Cody said, it is the last time he is going to let his Dad play, again.

The momentum then swung towards Stortford as their strong runners got involved and pulled two tries back to make it 10-10.
Into the second half and second wind, the Hertford boys pulled away again. With Roberts' relentless ferreting at the breakdown, Hertford were sending Stortford backwards and winning penalties. Quick thinking and penalties put Wilson through again under the posts to make it 17-10.

With continued pressure, Hertford earned a scrum on the Stortford 22. Roberts broke down the blind side making good yards as Stortford expected him to pass outside – don’t be silly. Hertford then recycled really quickly, with Humphries driving forward, and Heltsley then breaking tackles before coming up just short. The ball was spun out wide, and Brewer went under the posts again to make it 24-10. A genuinely great team try from Hertford's worst team.

With 20 minutes to go, and injuries already taking their toll, Hertford would have happily pulled up stumps. Unfortunately Stortford looked like a team that wanted to play to win, and they spent the final quarter running non-stop at the Hertford players. This was brutal, attritional back-foot rugby, with lots of set pieces, as Stortford pounded away – Chindits, thousands of 'em. The defence was resolute. There was some excellent tackle technique from Grid Iron Heltsley (see the pic), but less good from the rest of us as we tried to get low, but creaked.

Indeed such was endless pressure, some players needed a rest. Preece effectively self-carded himself as he tried to impersonate the Stortford backline by standing with them.

Then when we finally did get some possession, instead of smashing the ball down the pitch (which is definitely what 3rd Teamer Albon would have done), we tried to play out of defence. This resulted in: more defending.

In modern parlance, endless defending is probably good for mental resilience. Notwithstanding the wisdom of the self help gurus, Hertford just wanted to get out of their half and Ellis finally found some space. Scampering up the touchline having claimed mortal injury just seconds earlier, the wannabee footballer wisely released the proper baller Anstead to run us out of trouble. Mercifully, the ref then blew up as Hertford were definitely blown out.

Bloodied and very much bowed after the non-stop defence, the team had managed to hold out and the final whistle was blessed relief.
The Termites led the way, as ever, with all four Hertford sides victorious. Hooray Ole!

Elans: Humphries, Ellis, Heltsley, Price, Scully, Whitaker, Wilson, Byrne; Roberts (c), Preece, Flaherty, Always, Anstead, Ball, Brewer
Stans: Kimsey, Church
Photo fan: Van Der Ryst
Fans: Adams, McGrail, Ball, families on half term jolly
Judge Touch: Gawthorne
Tries: Wilson 2, Preece, Brewer