Fullerians beat 14-man Hackney to earn first win of season

Despite the man disadvantage, the visitors stood up well against a side they have never beaten at London & South East Division Counties 1 Herts/Middx level, with Fullers stretching their winning run to 7-0 with a four-try bonus-point victory.

It took just over 11 minutes for the first try of the game which looked like a usual Fullers set up with a another dominant scrum, led by John Barson at tight-head, on the five-metre line. With quick feet and a shove, Andy Hovell flung the ball out to a flying Shaun Smith who crashed over under the posts. Dan Evans slotted the conversion with ease.

The hosts scoring one of their tries (Image: Fullerians)

Hackney bounced back with a great effort utilising all their backs in a quick ball move and the conversion was made to level the score.

However, Fullers led 10-7 at the interval after Evans converted an easy penalty in front of the posts following a high tackle on Will Clark.

Evans further extended the advantage immediately after the break when the ball was knocked on from the kick off.

However, Hackney continued to show their quality and came back into the game with another well-worked try, with Fullers unable to land several tackles which allowed their opponents to score and convert to take the lead for the first time.

Taking a lineout cleanly (Image: Fullerians)

The visitors then showed signs of tiring slightly as they had a player sent to cool down for ten minutes following another high tackle. This allowed Fullers to kick on and flanker Sean Deller found himself stretching with all he had to get over the line for his side’s second try of the afternoon, Evans nailing the conversion again.

Sensing the victory was within their grasp, Fullers pushed hard for a bonus point and skipper scored Liam Boyd twice for his second and third tries of the season, with Evans majestically kicking both to keep his 100 per cent record intact.