It’s a Ver-y good result as Belsize Park clamber towards midtable

Thursday, March 14, 2013
9:40 AM

Herts/Middlesex Division 1:

Belsize Park 33 Verulamians 19

Belsize Park arrested a poor run of form with a bonus-point victory over Verulamians, which took them two places up the table.

BP had started the season with four wins from their opening five league fixtures, but a succession of injuries saw them win just two of their following 11 games.

That left them in the bottom three – albeit 20 points clear of the relegation zone – but they ran in four tries at Regent’s Park on Saturday to leapfrog visiting Verulamians as well as London Welsh Amateurs.

Belsize were on top from the start and powerful performances from stand-in captain Phil Lydeard and Tom House, who had recently returned from injury, meant the home side dominated up front.

Flanker Miran Serdarevic was rampant in the loose with the ball in hand, but it was Ed Kilbee who marshalled the game, keeping the opposition pinned in their half.

Tries from Dave Blaney, Jon Toy and Jon Smith gave Belsize Park a commanding 25-5 half-time lead.

Verulamians came back into the contest after the break, scoring twice, but James Berry also touched down for the hosts to secure a bonus point.

Elsewhere in Herts/Middlesex Division One, Hendon remain rooted to the bottom after their fifth loss in a row – but they put up a fight in a 22-0 home defeat against the league leaders, Harrow.

Hendon conceded the first score of the derby in the 10th minute but they went on to surprise their local rivals, dominating for 20 minutes.

Lee Linale, Paul Geraghty and Cosy Mutuma all made inspired runs but the hosts were unable to make the breakthrough and put points on the board.

Their misfortune was underlined when Linale’s 30th-minute penalty kick hit the post, and winger JP Cremin narrowly missed the follow- up.

In spite of all of their hard work, it was Harrow who got the next score, capitalising on a poor Hendon line-out and scoring their second try in the corner to go into the break 10-0 up.

The visitors extended their advantage in the 50th minute, winning a five-metre penalty and pushing their way over the line for a converted score.

Hendon maintained the forward pressure with Roddy Walsh, Jack Hanley and

Brian O’Regan combining well, but the finishing touch was not there and Harrow scored a fourth try from a quickly-taken line-out to secure a bonus point.