Published: 28 February, 2013
by STEVE BARNETT

THE future looks bright for Hampstead Rugby Club after one of their emerging junior teams secured a hat-trick of wins over rivals Haringey Rhinos on Saturday.

Hampstead Junior Rugby Club were recently recognised as a beacon club as part of Camden’s Olympic Sports Legacy initiative. And what better way to celebrate the news than seeing their Under-10s side record three straight wins over the Rhinos?

Hampstead boasted far better passing and attacking running play than their opponents in all three of the 16-minute games, which are determined by tries alone as kicking and conversions don’t come into play until they’re 11 years old.

In the first game scrum-half Thomas Scott-Linden opened the scoring with a powerful run from the halfway line.

The Rhinos hit back with a try of their own, but Louis Gilbert sealed a 2-1 victory for Hampstead when he found space on the left wing and with a typical powerful run scored in the corner.

Hampstead’s passing was even better in their second game. The first try this time around was scored by Bas Sakia following a fine pass from Scott-Linden.

Tommy Hayes doubled the lead from an equally good pass by centre Laurie Taylor. The Rhinos narrowed the gap but Hampstead went on to secure a 3-1 victory courtesy of a well-taken try from Ganesh Hamilton.

The winning margin continued to climb and the third and final game was a walkover with Hampstead scoring four unanswered tries.

Leading scorer Scott-Linden grabbed two more tries, while Sakia and Gilbert also made the line in a convincing 4-0 win.

Team coach Matthew Linden said afterwards: “This was a great team effort and everybody should be proud of themselves.”