Anderson hat-trick earns Biggleswade friendly spoils

Biggleswade started the friendly well, with some great interlinking passing to attack the Hitchin line.

But some strong tackling from the visitors held the Biggleswade attack at bay as the visitors started to find their feet.

Both teams worked hard in defence, but it was the home side who managed to break the deadlock and score through a close-range drive over the line from Matt Horgan.

Lex Jackson added the conversion from just to the right of the posts.

A good attacking structure led to Biggleswade breaching the Hitchin line once again with a pre-planned short range move which saw Graham Williams crash over in the far corner.

Jackson stepped up and successfully converted a seemingly impossible kick against the blustery wind to put Biggleswade 14-0 ahead.

Hitchin started to filter their bench on to the field when some of their players started to flag.

The fresh legs, coupled with Biggleswade being reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes after a late tackle on the Hitchin number nine, allowed the visitors to score their first try of the afternoon.

Some changes at half-time and a reshuffle saw several of the Biggleswade team playing out of position, but despite this, the team continued to play well and support each other.

A close-range pushover try from the big Hitchin forwards (unconverted) brought the visitors to within two points.

But Tom Anderson, playing in Biggleswade’s back row, ran in three tries in succession, all unconverted, to give the home team a convincing lead.

Hitchin brought on the remainder of their bench in a bid to try and bridge the deficit and added a try and penalty.

However, it was too late for them to catch up as the home side ran out 29-20 winners.