Hackney 7 Belsize Park 19 BELSIZE Park displayed the benefits of a busy pre-season on Saturday with an opening day Herts/Middlesex Division Two win at Hackney. BP, skippered by Rob Harrison, completed their pre-season...

Hackney 7

Belsize Park 19

BELSIZE Park displayed the benefits of a busy pre-season on Saturday with an opening day Herts/Middlesex Division Two win at Hackney.

BP, skippered by Rob Harrison, completed their pre-season with an emphatic 41-5 win over Division One outfit Harlequins in a friendly last week.

BP's well-being was apparent on Saturday when they swiftly bagged a converted try to take the lead and crossed the line again before the break to lead 12-0. Hackney touched down early in the second half but BP were up to the challenge and grabbed another converted try to ensure victory.

"I think we could win the league," said Harrison.

"We must play every game like we want to win. Individually the players are great. I don't see why we could not win the division.

"That victory makes it two wins from two games for our first team this year and now that we have our first league win of the season we should feel positive about what we can achieve this year.

"We are still not playing to our potential and with this we should look to start hard and finish hard in every game."

Hackney were the first to attack but BP were up to the challenge, with their defence keeping the home side at bay for the first five minutes.

Harrison's men soon began to take the upper hand as the pack drove Hackney back to the halfway line.

BP soon started to push forward and find gaps and the pressure paid off when Nicolas Blanc, who has recently stepped up from the second team, touched down for a try, converted by Mal Deay.

With their tails up BP started to exploit holes in Hackney's defence and Deay took the ball straight into his channel, enabling James Beck to bag his first try for the team for a 12-0 half-time lead.

Nevertheless Hackney refused to roll over and in the second half benefited from a missed tackle to run in a converted try and cut the deficit to five points.

But Hackney's hopes of snatching a late winner were dashed when Neil Ryland crashed over the line for a try, converted by Deay.

Belsize Park seek to continue their good start when they welcome Royston on Saturday.

Belsize Park: Zac Webb, John Miles, Johnny Jones, Joel Hopeful, Nicholas Blanc, Jamie Bercy, Chris Mcquillan, Chris Kilkelly, Robert Harrison, Mal Deay, Gregg Jenkins, James Beck, Harry Allen, Rob Slater, Ted Papfield