On Sunday 16th January Hampstead u13s travelled north to their furthest non tour fixture to play Bedford Blues Juniors RFC. Having prepared for the worst possible conditions, we were delighted to be able to play our first proper fixture under proper u13s rules under Bedford's clear blue skies. According to Theo Irving's great uncle; it's always sunny in Bedford.

From kick-off Bedford started strongly and after some powerful drives, they soon scored a find try. Hampstead were then on the ropes having to absorb waves of pressure from Bedford's behemoths. Fortunately, a number of handling errors by Bedford allowed Hampstead to relieve the pressure and find our own rhythm.

Hampstead then started to play at a fast tempo and varied the play; both running onto short passes and also going wide. Eventually our slick handling skills created the space for Rufus to skip past their defence and score in the corner.

Despite this being our first game with contested scrums our forwards started to more than held their own in the set piece and showed their pace and fitness around the paddock to snaffle turnover ball and win quick recycled ball. On top of this, the forwards also carried the ball strongly with Olly, Elvis and Fred to the fore.

Special mention should go to the front row of Theo J, Albert and Reggie. With only a few practice sessions they performed incredibly well and set up a platform for the rest of the team to play. Without their battling and competitiveness the match would have been lost.

After the first quarter, OCV came on and this created the time for Jasper to then start to turn their backs by kicking to the corners and controlling play. This marked a turning point and the rest of the first half was very much Hampstead in the ascendant and we turned around at 25(5T) - 5(1T).

The second half, unfortunately started in similar fashion to the first with Bedford scoring early and then camped on our line applying enormous pressure. However, our collective efforts held them out, and we quickly turned defence to attack and scored.

That seemed to break the spirit of Bedford and we quickly stretched the lead to 55 (11T) - 10(2T). By this stage Hampstead were varying our play constantly and it felt as though Bedford were never sure whether they needed to; tackle a big runner coming at them full pace on a short ball, drift to cover hard running from Theo and James in the centres, hold back to cover the kicks over the top, or desperately scramble to the wings to cover an attack out wide from our speedsters or a cross-field kick.

Eventually, our boys tired and Bedford got two well deserved tries at the end. The final score was 55 (11T) - 20(4T).

In terms of MOMENT OF THE MATCH, there were lots of great rugby - both individual and team efforts - but for us coaches the best moment was not actually on the pitch. It came from Alejandro, when Ale was substituted for Henry P he then cheered, advised and encouraged Henry (and others) throughout. Truly a team player who epitomises the values of rugby.

There were everyone was a hero during the match. Theo J with little prep stepped in and played excellently. Albert who went hooker and whose work rate around the pitch probably goes unnoticed by many, but Albert is the glue that keeps the team together. Rufus, Theo I, Elliel and Alejandro's barnstorming running and try scoring. James's tackling, rucking and jackling. Alex flexibility and positional sense at the back. Henry P's diamond like toughness. Fred, Elvis and Olly's strong running and rucking. Reggie, Albert, and Theo J's collective efforts in the scrum and around the park. And OCV's distribution and darting runs - what an incredible comeback!!

But the HERO OF THE MATCH is Jasper. As a scrum half in the first period he made a thorough nuisance of himself on their ball, disrupting any clean ball Bedford got from the scrum. He also got our big runners making those hard yards. Then when Jasper moved to fly half the variety and tempo increased, making the most of the conditions he kept the opposition guessing every time we had possession.

It feels as though our season is back after the disappointment of the draw against Tring. That was one of the best performances by this squad and given we had a lot of absences then the competition for places us now really strong and can only be good for the squad and the team. We still have lots to work on which also means that we can be a lot better.

The final score was something 55-20, ie 11 tries to 4. A really good result with plenty to build upon.

Well done all and hoping that those players who are injured or ill recover soon,

Arthur and Rhys