Christmas comes early for Welwyn Rugby Club and Josh Milton

The Hobbs Way-based rugby club ran out 27-12 winners to move up to sixth in the table.

Josh Milton scored all four of Welwyn's tries against Old Streetonians. Picture: WELWYN RFC (Image: Welwyn Rugby Club)

It was a victory earned on a soggy ground and with a strong wind blowing down the pitch.

It meant a game of two halves as well and Welwyn got off to a sluggish start playing into the teeth of the breeze in the first period.

They went behind after 10 minutes as Old Streetonians managed to engineer an overlap and enable their winger to cross the whitewash for the conversion to be landed.

However, this seemed to spur on what was to be a very dominant Welwyn pack and from a good line-out, the home side applied enough pressure that Old Street conceded a penalty. 

This was quickly taken and with the pressure continuing, Streetonians were penalised again.

This time Welwyn opted for the scrum which was duly pushed over the line for the skipper, and number eight, to get the easiest of tap downs.

The conversion was missed but after battling the conditions, there was still pleasure that Welwyn turned round just 7-5 down.

With the wind at their backs, there was the fear that Welwyn would rely too much on their kicking game but they were controlled in their use of the boot and the breeze in gaining good field positions.

When they did put the ball in the air and move the play down the field, then they turned to the pack to press home the advantage.

This tactic bore fruit mid-way through the second half when Welwyn won another scrum close to the Street line.

And once again, the Welwyn pack was too strong and Milton was able to score his second try from another pushover.

Jake Riley got his first points of the afternoon with the conversion to put them in front for the first time and minutes later, he was given another shy at the posts.

This came after Milton grabbed his hat-trick, this time using a change of direction to wrong foot the the defence.

Riley again landed the kick and now Welwyn were 19-7 in front.

The east London side did not give up easily though and after some nice interplay, they created a gap which they exploited for another five points.

But straight from the restart, Welwyn regained the ball and Streetonians conceded a penalty for coming into the ruck from the side.

With the wind behind them, and from just outside the 22, Riley took the easy three to move 22-12 ahead.

And they rubber-stamped the win in the final 10 minutes, grabbing the bonus point in the process.

They got themselves back into the Old Street 22 and were given a scrum.

This resulted in the same outcome as the other times, the visitors unable to match the power of the Welwyn forwards, Milton again getting the final touch as they rumbled over the line.

After his four try success, captain Milton said: "This was a fantastic day for our front five who were the reason I was able to score the tries."

Welwyn have another home game before the Christmas break, playing Cheshunt on Saturday.

Datchworth, however, had a difficult afternoon, falling to a 60-5 loss away to bottom of the table, and previously winless Hampstead.

Datch are back at home on Saturday when they host Hitchin.