Betfred League 1, 30 March 2018
Hemel Stags 12 London Skolars 18
Skolars won for the first time this season in the Good Friday derby at Hemel Stags.
In the cold, muddy conditions at Pennine Way, ball handling was difficult for both sides. The Stags opened the scoring on the quarter hour when Jordan Fitzpatrick-Barry ran onto a quick to the left corner to score, Brad Hunter adding the conversion.
Skolars enjoyed a good period of possession after Jy-Mel Coleman regathered the ball from his own kick after a fumble by Hemel. Skolars forced a goal-line drop-out and them Coleman forced his way over the tryline, with Neil Thorman’s conversion levelling the scores.
Sam Nash was held up over the line, but with the rain lashing down, it was clear it would be a low scoring game and Skolars elected to kick a penalty from close range. Eddie Mbaraga made a 40 metre run from the kick-off and then Jake Melling was stopped on the tryline ater picking up a Thorman chip. Another penalty kick late in the half gave them a 6-10 lead at the break.
Thorman kicked his third penalty of the afternoon early in the second half. Skolars finally took a decisive lead when Eddie Mbaraga pushed his way through the defence on the right flank, Thorman adding his fifth goal of the afternoon.
Hemel’s chances of a comeback were dealt a blow when Chris Heil was sin-binned for disputing a penalty given against his side. He had just returned to the field when the Stags forced a goal-line drop-out, after which Jonathan Burns slipped over to narrow the Skolars’ lead with two minutes remaining, but the visitors kicked deep at the restart and the Stags were never going to be able to run the length of the field before the final hooter sounded.
LONDON SKOLARS
1 Elliott Hall
2 Vinny Finigan
3 Michael Brown
4 Jake Melling
5 Jacob Ogden
6 Jy-Mel Coleman
7 Neil Thorman
8 Will Martin
25 Charlie Lawrence
10 Lamont Bryan
11 Quinn Ngawati
22 Sam Nash
13 Ryan Chester
Subs (all used)
9 Billy Driver
16 Louis Robinson
14 Eddie Mbaraga
17 Omari Caro
Tries: Coleman (22), Mbaraga (55)
Goals: Thorman 5/5
STAGS
22 Louis Sheriff
2 Marcus Elliot
23 Brad Hunter
4 Chris Heil
5 Jordan Fitzpatrick-Barry
14 Jack Mitchell
7 Kieran Smith
21 James Thorton
18 Ricky Hough
16 Lewis Taylor
3 Kadeem Williams
11 Sonny Esslemont
19 Marcus Stock
Subs (all used)
9 Jonathan Burns
15 Brad Adams
17 Santino Decaro
10 Warren Jowitt
Tries: Fitzpatrick-Barry (15), Burns (78)
Goals: Hunter 2/2
Sin-bin: Heil (66) – backchat to referee
Penalty count: 6-12
Half-time: 6-12
Referee: Cameron Worsley
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 6-6, 6-8, 6-10, 6-12, 6-18, 12-18
