Haringey Rhinos Rugby Club – Strongest North London Rugby Club

On a bright but chilly Sunday morning the Rhino’s season was to close with a game that could only be described as epic. The 13 players of the Rhinos were looking to end the season with a win against a side that had beaten them 7 tries to 2 in an earlier clash. The home side lost the toss and Hackney got the game under way. The Rhinos dominated the play and for the first 5 minutes of the game Hackney were chasing shadows. However, the Rhinos couldn’t turn the possession into points and it was Hackney who scored the first points of the game. The Hackney centre evaded a couple of would-be tacklers to score in the corner. Then Orhan showed what he can do with a ploughing run to over the Hackney tacklers to score his first ever try. The lineout’s were controlled by Debo at the front of the line and the loose play was saw Ahmet and Salomon shrugging off tackles and creating numerous chances which weren’t taken. again the away side snuck over for a lucky try after a Rhinos ruck was turned over the near half way and the Hackney centre once again made the Rhinos pay. A few words from skipper Deshaun lifted the spirits and the Rhinos hit back with another bull dozing run from Orhan who carried over half of the Hackney team to score out wide. The Rhinos broke the line countless times but when simple tries were there for the taking the ball was turned over or stolen by Hackney. with the half coming to an end the Rhinos conceded another score and converted to give them the lead at half time, 17-10.

A few words from coach Head Youth coach Craig Sweetlove left the Young Rhinos in no doubt that they were playing the better rugby and being more clinical with scoring opportunities would see them to a win. The kick off saw the Rhinos more aggressive at the contact area and Hackney being unable to do anything legally about it gave away countless penalties. A tap penalty saw the ball being spun wide into the hands of Anthony who scorched the grass as he flew past his opposite number to score in the corner. From the restart the Rhinos gathered the ball and again were rewarded with a penalty which was taken quickly and saw the ball moved across the park and recycled several times before Deshaun crossed the white wash to make the score 20 – 17 to the Rhinos. The Rhinos once again let the Bulls back into it and again let in 2 easy tries, one of which was converted to make the score 29 – 20 to the Bulls. From the restart the Rhinos worked their way up the pitch and only a cynical penalty from Hackney stopped the Rhinos from scoring. Ethan took a quick tap and passed to Salomon and from 5 metres out he scored under the posts. Ahmet got the conversion and the game hung in the balance at 27 – 29. Hackney put pressure on the Rhinos from the kickoff and drove them back toward their line. A penalty to the Rhinos saw a chance to clear their lines. But rather than putting in a big kick towards the Hackney end, the penalty was tapped and ran out of the 22. This turned out to be a grave error and the ball was turned over and for the third time the Hackney centre scored from a Rhinos mistake to give them a 34 – 27 lead. The Rhinos had minutes to try and claw their way back and did manage to get the ball across the line under a pile of bodies and the scorer is still unclear it was to prove too late to salvage the win that seemed a certainty at half time. The Rhinos had given their all and had deserved a better end to their season. The positives were many and great performances from all the players mean the future of Haringey rugby club is looking very bright indeed.

Final Score: 32 (Haringey) 34 (Hackney)