Round 10 Liverpool Buccaneers vs Hemel Stags :
Liverpool Buccaneers 22 Hemel Stags 32
Leyfield Road
Hemel returned to winning ways on the ground where their play-off hopes had been ended in 2008, taking the spoils in a terrific encounter.
In front of a season's biggest crowd at Leyfield Road - which demonstrated the appetite for the game in the city - the Stags had the composure and quality to open up an early 20-0 lead and then withstand a second-quarter wobble to eventually wear down their opponents.
Hemel were without powerhouse winger Dave Afreh with Ashley Fyson his replacement but were otherwise unchanged from the side defeated by Nottingham the week previously.
The home side made a strong start and should have opened the scoring when Smith broke through but the final pass to the supporting Mike Forber went to ground.
Liverpool were made to pay for that missed opportunity as Hemel roared in for four tries.
Firstly, the Stags won a repeat set and spread the ball left for Barry John Swindells to send Oliver O'Mara in at the corner.
Then a Brendan Williams' kick behind the line saw the home defence hesitate, allowing Jamie Acton to ground the ball.
Swindells’ neat step bamboozled the home ranks for another six pointer and when Jared Searson did likewise for a fourth Hemel try inside twenty minutes, it appeared that Liverpool would be in for a long afternoon.
However, the home side showed commendable resolve to bounce back and were afforded a lifeline when a clearing kick downfield bounced wickedly on Fyson and kindly for Jamie Hammond to gather and scorch in between the posts.
The full back added the conversion and the score signalled a spell of sustained pressure from the hosts, culminating in a perfectly-weighted Ryan Cunningham kick to the in-goal for Sean Forber to race onto and ground.
In first half stoppage time the home side grabbed a third try, Sean Forber again crossing as Liverpool worked an overlap down the right, leaving the game in the balance once more at 16-20.
Having seemingly turned the contest into a victory parade after the first twenty minutes, Hemel had to regroup and roll their sleeves up once more and they mounted incessant pressure on the Buccaneers' line in the third quarter.
Alex Brown was at the heart of a creative Stags quartet alongside Scott Clendenning-Fenton, Brendan Williams and John Weber as the visitors wrested control.
Liverpool did not aid their cause with handling errors and penalties repeatedly helping Hemel turn the screw but the hosts made amends for their profligacy with some monumental defence to keep the their line unbroken; the Chamberlain brothers and Cunningham leading the way with some huge hits.
But the pressure had to tell eventually and the Buccaneers were broken when Searson stormed in down the blindside from a scrum, Swindells' goal pushing Hemel ten points clear.
With the Buccaneers' defence finally breached, it was left to gargantuan prop Joey Compton-Meyer to punch a mammoth hole in their hopes as he plunged over for a popular score, Swindells again adding the extras.
With the game settled, Buccaneers at least repeated their previous week's efforts to secure a last-minute bonus point, Mike Forber diving over the line from acting half and Hammond goaling to ensure the home side had some consolation.
Stags: Barry John Swindells,
Oliver O'Mara,
Jared Searson,
Chris Pomfrett,
Ashley Fyson,
Scott Clendenning-Fenton,
Brendan Williams,
Joey Compton-Meyer,
Alex Brown,
Dean Campbell,
Jamie Acton,
Mike Crosby,
John Weber
Subs:
George Stevens,
Luke Antos,
Tom Watts,
Ben Wetton
Tries: O'Mara (6), Acton (13) Swindells (16) Searson (21, 61), Compton-Meyer (67)
Goals: Swindells 4
Hemel Man of the Match: STAGS - Alex Brown
Half time: 16-20