Hitchin hosted Old Albanians Romans, the 2XV of the National 2 East League Leaders, who had only lost one game all season. It was the last fixture of 2025 for both sides.

It was an eventful opening stanza. After just 3 minutes, Old Albanians sent three perfectly timed passes to put the Full Back on the outside of the Hitchin defence, and he rounded the Full Back to finish a 70 metres run under the posts.

Hitchin struck back immediately, collecting the kick off and hitting up towards the 22 metre line. Fly Half Ben Wiggins sent a flat pass to Centre Simon Taylor, who lifted the ball to his right and Winger Harry Dowrick, who had previously been hidden behind Taylor. Dowrick was at full speed and arced his run around the Full Back for a superb first Hitchin try.

An errant OAs lineout was collected by Flanker Ben Lokos, who injected pace before passing to Taylor, who interchanged passes with Dowrick and carried up to the 5 metre line. The OAs defence could not recover quickly enough, and Lokos finished the attack he started. Wiggins converted again for a 14-7 lead after just 12 minutes.

A penalty was kicked to the 22 but the rolling maul was halted. Taylor took a flat ball from Wiggins and evaded two tackles before offloading. Two try line surges followed, before Scrum Half Henry Thompson, on his senior début for Hitchin, dummied a pass and darted over the try line.

Prop James Bolter forced a turnover as OAs began to build up a head of steam. OAs counter attacked from their own 22, and Flanker Pierre Yeboa was rewarded for his support line by scoring their second try of the match.

Hitchin again regathered the kickoff, and OAs were penalised for an off the ball tackle. The penalty was kicked to touch, and the maul rolled forward. Taylor was tackled just short of the line, as was Co-Captain Ruiri Shanahan. Thompson reversed the direction of play, and quick hands from Bolter and Taylor put Number 8 Nick Panton in on the left edge to score the bonus point try after 30 minutes.

Hitchin turned the screw in the scrum, winning a penalty three minutes later. Despite a little indiscipline, Hitchin managed the remainder the half well, and Thompson kicked the ball into touch for a 24-12 halftime lead.

Romans came out with more energy after the interval, and found the early score they needed, when the Fly Half found the rangey Winger with a big miss pass.

Full Back Will Evans identified a ball that had fallen out of the back of the ruck, which he collected and kicked forward, but the kick trickled over the dead ball line.

Hitchin turned over the ball near their own line, and Wiggins booted the ball into the OAs half. A yellow card was issued to Hitchin for a technical infringement, and the penalty was kicked deep into Hitchin territory. The subsequent rolling maul was well constructed and earned OAs their bonus point, drawing the scores level.

After 65 minutes, OAs intercepted a Hitchin pass and two phases later a short line broke through the Hitchin defence. The conversion put OAs seven points ahead, and they had all the momentum.

Another knock on from a kick off gave Hitchin a scrum in OAs territory. A clever backs move put Evans into a pocket of space, which he fully exploited. He drew his man and passed to Centre Tom Asquith-Fox, who sent an important pass into the hands of Dowrick, to score in the left corner. The conversion was missed, and Hitchin trailed by two points.

Hitchin kicked a penalty to five metres out, but OAs sacked the maul. Hitchin continued to exert pressure, and we're stringing together plenty of phases under fatigue. Taylor advanced 20 metres, then Bolter was stopped just short, before Dowrick crossed the line, but the referee observed a double movement.

Hitchin turned the ball over on the final play, and laid siege one more time. Evans dropped into the pocket for the show stopping drop goal, but did not strike his effort cleanly, and the ball crossed the dead ball line to bring about the final whistle.

An agonising 29-31 defeat brought about 2 bonus points, which was insufficient reward for a courageous performance against a high flying opponent. Hitchin sit 5th in a congested mid-table of Counties 1 Herts, and next play Welwyn at home on 10th January.