Third placed Hitchin visited second placed Old Albanians Romans, the 2nd team of the National 2 East promotion contenders, on a windy afternoon in late March.

Hitchin took the lead after 5 minutes from an attacking lineout. A maul crabbed towards the touchline, but Hitchin escaped and Co-Captain Ben Wiggins picked up the ball, shrugged off a couple of tackles and stretched out to touch down on the try line.

A number of regular first teamers were missing this week, and a well drilled OAs side were quick to exploit any weaknesses. A knock on in midfield was collected at full pace by their Centre, who raced away to score under the posts.

Hitchin punished a midfield penalty with another kick to touch. The maul sucked in a number of players, and Wiggins spotted a shortage on the touchline where the maul started. Wiggins drew his defender and found Winger Paul Ledwith in full flight, who finished on the left edge.

The pacy Left Wing scored a marvellous individual effort against a broken defence from 60 metres out, and OAs took the lead, which they would not relinquish for the rest of the match.

The Hitchin scrum were uncharacteristically on the back foot. The OAs Fly Half spotted a large gap between the recovering forwards, and marched through untouched, before converting his own try.

The Flanker was next to score as he received the ball in open space from the Right Winger, and fended a would be tackled before touching down.

Terrific tackles from Full Back Gregor Smith and Flanker Lewis Montague put OAs under pressure. Their fifth try came 5 minutes before the half, a powerful series of try line surges from the forwards following an attacking scrum.

Hitchin had the final say of the first half, as Centre Simon Taylor put OAs under pressure, forcing a penalty on the 5 metre line. Scrum Half Ryan Godfrey tapped and passed to Flanker Ben Lokos, who accelerated through a gap for Hitchin's third try. Halftime score OAs 35-17 Hitchin.

An explosive finish by the OAs Right Winger early in the second half effectively ended the contest, with Hitchin now hunting their four try bonus point. This was secured when a high tackle penalty was kicked to touch by Wiggins, and a well constructed maul rumbled over, Player/Coach Gary Ayres with the score.

Smith collected a difficult bouncing ball and made a superb break down the right edge. Another attacking maul, this time defended well, preceded persistent pressure from the Hedgehogs, which drew another penalty. Co-Captain tapped and drove over from 5 metres out, before converting his own try.

40-29 was as close as it got in the second half. OA's Fly Half got his second off the back of a lineout. Harry T prevented a try by touching down a bouncing ball behind the try line. The wind had kicked up making an exit from a goal line dropout very difficult. The left wing found a gap and scored an eighth try.

The home side were full of confidence, and worked the ball to the electric right edge, where the Flanker and Winger combined for a superb final score.

While this was not Hitchin's day, we can take pride in a battling performance against a talented side. Hitchin's last fixture of the season is away at Hertford on 11th April, with both sides capable of securing third place in the final standings.