Bishop’s Stortford Colts win county cup by beating Hertford 34-26

Bishop’s Stortford Colts brought the county cup back to Silver Leys with a thrilling 34-26 win over derby rivals Hertford on Sunday (April 27).

They fought back from the disappointment of conceding an early try to run out worthy winners in a tough contest played at Hertford’s ground.

And there were jubilant scenes at the end as captain Zac Brunner lifted the trophy.

After going behind to an unconverted Hertford try, Stortford took the lead through a penalty try and then one from Dan Johnson, which was converted by Oli Mitchell.

This was quickly followed by another try from Euan McCarthy which was converted by Mitchell, who then added a penalty.

Hertford soon replied with a converted try to leave the half time score at 24-12 to Stortford.

After the break, Hertford battled back and scored two converted tries before a penalty from Mitchell left the score at 27-26 in Stortford’s favour with just seven minutes to go.

With time running out, skipper Brunner battered his way across the line and the conversion from Mitchell wrapped up the win.

The Stortford coaching team praised carrying work from Dylan Streeter and Harrison Perry as well as work around the breakdown from McCarthy and Josh Trevett.

“I’m so pleased for the lads,” said joint head coach Dave Macfie. “It’s been a long and hard season and we’ve struggled in some games, but to win the county cup against Hertford in our last game is just fantastic.

“What a way to end for the team. They fought hard and thoroughly deserved it. It was a brilliant all-round team performance.”