Fourth placed Hertford hosted third placed Hitchin in the final fixture of the season on a blustery April afternoon.

Hitchin were two tries up within 5 minutes. A dominant Hitchin scrum won against the head, and Captain Ruiri Shanahan made good progress. Flanker Ben Lokos picked from the base of the ruck and ran straight through the middle to score untouched under the posts. The kickoff failed to travel 10 metres, and from the resultant scrum, Number 8 Simon Taylor feinted to pass before running straight through a big gap and finishing impressively from 50 metres.

Hertford scored their first after 10 minutes, when a beautifully judged kick put Hitchin on the back foot and Hertford stole the ball back to touch down.

A technical infringement at the scrum resulted in a free kick, which Prop James Bolter advanced down the pitch. A similar tap and go brought about his first try shortly after, as Hertford struggled to cope with our power through the middle.

The next Hitchin try was one for the history books. Scrum Half Ryan Godfrey made 30 metres down the pitch, and Bolter carried from the next phase, offloading to Second Row Sam Underwood who exploited a pocket of space to score from 30 metres out. It was his first 1XV try for 10 years!

The bonus point all but secured third place for Hitchin, with a vastly superior points difference.

Hertford got their second with a 5 metre surge from a quick tap penalty. Their third came two minutes later when a good hit on Full Back Will Evans dislodged the ball, which was kicked forward for their outside backs to win the chase to the loose ball.

Another dominant scrum won the ball against the head and generated momentum. A strong carry from Second Row Matt Trussell put Hitchin within range. Shanahan found Winger Marcus Goss from the blindsided who offloaded to Second Row Matty Knight. Knight passed out of the back of his hand to Evans, who passed to Taylor to finish off the score. A marvellous team try. Halftime score Hertford 2XV 21-35 Hitchin 1XV.

Hitchin had the first score of the second half. Centre Declan Beel had seen little of the ball thus far, but he collected a bouncing ball on the left edge before accelerating outside the first line of defence. Beel showed slick footwork to round the Full Back before narrowing the angle for a successful conversion.

Shanahan collected the kick off and hoofed the ball from the 22 metre line for a 50:22 attacking lineout. Hitchin lost the lineout, and lost the plot for the rest of the match.

Hertford got their bonus point try from a quick tap penalty, defended poorly as they scored on the second phase.

Hitchin continually passed up the opportunity to kick, despite a powerful wind at their back.

A clever lineout play, where they survived an initial clear out before setting up a secondary maul, earner Hertford their fifth try. The equalising score followed straight after, as they worked the ball from left to right and had too much pace out wide.

As an unexpected hailstorm rained down, the game was in the balance. Hitchin knocked on from a promising position, and Hertford worked up the pitch. The Scrum Half worked a pocket of space and accelerated through, touching down to take the lead.

Hertford were playing with their backs up now, and passed the fifty points mark with a multi phase play, touched down by a forward.

Inside the last 5 minutes, Taylor collected a loose Hertford pass, and shuffled through the recovering defenders to touch down under the posts. The conversion reduced the deficit to 5 points.

After losing their own lineout, Hertford won the ball back with an interception, and with the ball in the Hitchin 22, they controlled play and kicked the ball into touch to bring about the final whistle.

From such a promising position, it was a disappointing collapse in the final match of the 2025/26 season. Hitchin finish third in Counties 1 Herts, our best ever league placing, with a record of 9 wins and 9 losses. Cheshunt win the league with a perfect record of 90 points from 18 matches, and achieve promotion to Regional 2. No teams were relegated, and Datchworth and Royston will join the league next season, having been promoted from Counties 2, with a possibility of another level transfer entrant to make a 12 team league.