The long awaited fixture against the oldest Rugby Club in the World was hampered by the opposition losing a large number of players because of the school holidays. We've not managed to play Blackheath due to Kent playing to the Old RFU Rules whilst we play to the New Rules of Play, but this year our rules are very similar and we were able to agree on a set of rules that were playable for both teams.

I'd like to start off this report by firstly thanking Oscar and Cian, for volunteering to play for Blackheath, so that the game could go ahead. They gave their all for their team mates of the day and both had excellent games.

The Whites started the game very strongly, with some great individual runs, getting us an early 15 point lead. Blackheath showed that they weren't going to lie down and caught us napping on our try line to score a try from a quickly taken penalty. This gave the boys a quick wake up call, which stopped the complacency, making the team into a much more solid defensive unit. In the 2nd quarter the boys started to play some powerful rugby, with great support play and offloads, over powering the smaller Blackheath team with the constant pressure. The half time score was 45-15 to the Whites.

The second half continued as the first, with the Blackheath players continually putting their bodies on the line in an attempt to stop the Whites from scoring, whilst continuing to mount counter attacks themselves. With one of Blackheath players injured, Marcus volunteered to play for the opposition. This evened the sides to a closer balance and he forced his way over for a quick 2 tries to show the rest of the Stortford boys that it wasn't going to be all their own way.

Into the final quarter and both teams dug deep into their energy levels and fought out a breathtaking 0-0 finale, which was almost as impressive as the free scoring of the first half. The final score was 14 tries to 5, but this probably didn't reflect the performance of Blackheath, but this was probably the best the Whites have ever played.

A big thank you to Blackheath for their part in a great morning's rugby. Hertford next!!!