Harpenden RFC suffered a 29-28 defeat at HAC.

The team bounced back after conceding two easy tries with less than a quarter of an hour gone whilst playing into a strong breeze.

Once behind, it was never going to be easy to recover as within five minutes the home side went into a 7-0 lead and almost immediately their captain Henry Platt, a nifty hooker, scored a second try under the posts to give his team a solid base.

However, a good break ten minutes later by right wing Tom Muskett led to a penalty. Harpenden’s centre, Aaron Wilde, kicked this one with ease, the first of seven, and converted Harpenden’s only try which brought his tally for the day to 23 points.

After a lot of forward pressure, the side took advantage of the fact that HAC’s number eight had been given a yellow card and Jack Haddock was finally presented with a good chance to take a quick penalty.

It went rapidly down the line to wing Fergus Cox who scored in the right corner.

It was a shame that Harpenden’s fortune was short-lived as HAC responded quickly with their third try, converted once more by Ollie Crosbie.

Then came two sublime moments from approximately 50m.

Wilde’s penalty kick flew high over the crossbar and a third just missed which meant that the sides changed ends with HAC leading by just five points.

Wilde landed three more penalties which gave them a seven point lead.

But their hopes of victory were dashed as a try by Platt and a penalty from Crosbie secured the home victory.

Harpenden coach James Alvis said: “Unfortunately, we fell asleep in the last quarter of the game although I won’t dispute the result.”

Harpenden’s next league game is at home this Saturday against Grasshoppers.