A great game, one of the greatest. A victory by the barest of margins. Heartache for Hitchin, joy for Hertford.
Down 24-10 at halftime, with Hitchin having impressed in attack, a comeback looked improbable. Parents’ shoulders were slopped, heads down. It wasn’t meant to be this way. Hertford have never trailed a game at halftime. We’ve never been in this position. And 14 points is surely too big a gap to close?

How dare we doubt these boys! Improbable is not impossible and with resolve and utter bloody-mindedness this team fought back to secure a place in the county cup final.

What had to happen was for Hertford to start the second half with a score and we duly did through Tom R. A repeat of the move Tom twice put into practice against Ampthill - a feign to pass, step inside and bending run to the line.

24-15 and the momentum was with Hertford. Momentum allied to the wonderful chaos that comes with Hertford’s unstructured, high tempo style. Chaos caused chiefly by Sid and his pack of forwards carrying as if possessed, breaking tackles and forcing Hitchin to concede space on the edges. Deano, Tyler … every single one of the forwards ran hard, dragging the opposition behind them.

And when the ball went wide to Tom B, courtesy of a sublimely timed pass from Harry, the comeback was fully on track. Wing and fullback to beat but a whiff of space, Tom stepped before screaming down the touchline and under the posts. 24-22.

Then came the score which put Hertford in front for the first time in the game. The forwards once again drove the ball down the middle of field before moving it right to Chris who put Sam in with a no look pass. Toby kicked the conversion, securing two extra points which at the end of the day made a huge, huge difference. 24-29

Backs finishing but forwards making. Not just with gorgeous passes but with massive defense. James was his horrible best – surely there’s no gnarlier player in the county? – Tom C and Ollie just relentless with their tackling and Eddie and Sid disrupting everything they could get their hands on.

There was a first half and yes, the scoreboard says we were outplayed, conceding three excellent tries, but Hertford gave as good as we got. Fraser scored both left side and right. Josh played at nine as if he’d played there all season – Ernie played all across the backline and Toby, Sam and Tom R held the midfield. No-one failed to contribute. Final score 29-29.

A big well done to the coaches – was there a Fergie style hairdryer treatment at halftime? (Fergie was a football coach. Ollie. Won a few trophies at Man Utd) – and to everyone for their amazing support, some even defying the orders of the physios (we won’t tell!). 41 more sleeps until cup final day! Can’t wait!