Sat 14 Sep 2024
Stratford 1st XV
Stratford travelled away to Cheltenham in high spirits following their successful start to the season, despite having made five changes due to absence and injury from last weekend, the replacements have been pushing for first-team contention and were trusted by the coaching staff to prove they should be in it regularly.
Cheltenham got the match underway, on a sunny but windy day and the highball wasn’t well dealt with leading to a Cheltenham lineout around the 22 almost instantly. However, from this Stratford won a penalty and sent the ball deep into the Cheltenham half but failed to make touch. Cheltenham spread the ball right and a couple of phases later were awarded a penalty on the halfway line with the referee deeming the turnover attempt was illegal.
Stratford survived the pressure put on by Cheltenham in their half and were awarded a penalty from a 5m lineout to Cheltenham. They then worked their way out there half and from a centre-field ruck spread the ball down the left. Another quick pass left by stand-off Bobby Scott-Walker allowed Lewis Mellor to break through a gap and make it close to the 22 before being brought down. There was a chance that a further pass left may have put Chris Bolton in the corner but unfortunately Lewis may not have believed the pass was on due to covering defenders.
Frustratingly for everyone involved, when the ball was spread right from this ruck with nice quick clean hands, what would have been the penultimate pass before a likely try was intercepted by the Cheltenham winger. With the Stratford 15 out of position, their player made it all away to score in the far corner, people talk of these being sliding doors moments, a try that could have been, turning into a try conceded. 7-0 to Cheltenham.
Both teams had opportunities in the next 5 to 10 minutes of the game, making good ground with good running lines causing issues for the defences. Despite this, a couple of attacks for each team were stunted by defensive turnovers or knock-ons. This period finished with Stratford piling pressure on the Cheltenham defence, almost scoring in the far-right corner before work in the wall back to the left. What appeared a sure try for captain Tom Stanley was considered held up by the referee, who then awarded a penalty to Cheltenham for backchat. It appeared that Stratford had the beating of Cheltenham, but it would depend on making the most of opportunities.
A little while later the main talking point of the match happened as, noticing the Cheltenham number eight doing harm to Stratford’s blind-side flanker Zak Hamersley, Sam James stopped that instantly, but certainly not in the fashion most beneficial to the team. A direct punch noticed by the referee saw him sent off on the 20-minute mark. Thankfully, after some treatment Zak was able to continue. Stratford now had the uphill challenge of approximately 60 minutes one man down.
Following this, Stratford sucked up the pressure put on them by Cheltenham and aside from scrums, you may not have realised that they were a man down. However, having stretched Stratford left and right Cheltenham were able to score on the far 15 m line and the conversion made it 14-0. As you can imagine, tempers were raised and a short while after this the referee had a long word with each captain to try and calm the game. Stratford survived to half-time without conceding again thanks to determined defence and a strong work ethic. On top of this, they had a fair few positive attacking moves but it just didn’t appear that things were going their way.
Stratford got the second half underway, and Cheltenham worked their way back into the Stratford half before a knock-on gave Stratford a scrum. Choosing to keep the backs at full-strength meant that every scrum was a challenge as Stratford appeared to be giving away a few kilograms even before the red card. Five minutes later, Stratford found themselves attacking on the Cheltenham 22 following a sharp dart around the side of the ruck by scrum-half Jake Lowe.
This momentum continued through the phases thanks to the half-time break restoring Stratford’s energy. Having spread the ball right, things were evened up after the Cheltenham winger was sent to the sin bin for a tip tackle on Stratford prop Geoff Dyson. Stratford took a quick tap and Tom Stanley almost went over between the posts. From this quick ruck, the ball was spread left and good hands put Nathan Geekie in around the 15 m line, the score was now 14-5 after a wayward conversion attempt.
There was real belief around the travelling support that Stratford were well in this game and if things started to go Stratford’s way there could be a positive end to the afternoon. Sadly, though stopping a Cheltenham attack by forcing a knock-on, Cheltenham were able to score down the blindside from another Stratford scrum. Having the feed on a backwards moving scrum meant that now nine Tom Houlahan was unable to get across to the blindside quickly enough to help winger George Fox, who had just come on, and Cheltenham went in to make it 21-5.
Stratford got back into their routine not long after this, building phase after phase and pushing into the Cheltenham 22. This promising period started by securing a breakdown turnover just inside the Cheltenham half shortly after the restart, followed by two deep forays through the Cheltenham line by Stanley and replacement Michael Dawes. It continued with two more phases to the left getting Stratford a penalty, five phases later following another two taps taken from penalties and Gwilym Davies scored Stratford’s second on the far left 5m line, on this occasion he made the conversion, leaving the score at 21-12.
With confidence buoyed, getting the seven points against the now back to 15-man Cheltenham, Stratford continued their policy of keeping hold of the ball where possible and the Stratford DoR Richard Pepperell was heard to be encouraging the team to keep the game moving as much as possible. Despite the situation they were in, it was clear the Stratford team weren’t giving up.
Having found themselves on their own 5m line, Stratford were awarded a penalty on the far left from the Cheltenham lineout, and a fantastic clearing kick, making the most of the space available, was sent across field and out of play 5m from the Cheltenham 22. Stratford took the lineout well and worked the ball infield, being rewarded with a penalty just inside the 22 in front of the uprights. The three points were taken, and the score sat at 21-15.
Cheltenham managed to work their way back into the Stratford 22 once again, with the referee finally having had enough of questionably late hits on the Cheltenham 10, securing a lineout about 10 m out. After working the ball right and then back to the left, the Cheltenham 13 managed to score, and the conversion was successful. The score was now 28-15 with approximately 10 left to go, and it was clear to see that defending a man down is much harder than attacking a man down.
Having then survived some more Cheltenham pressure, Stratford made their way back up the pitch and Lewis Mellor was put through a gap, unfortunately the next pass didn’t go to hand and Cheltenham got the ball back via a scrum. Stratford soon had the ball back, once again securing a penalty at the breakdown, which allowed them to go on the attack. As before, they continue with their tactic of quick taps from penalties unless real metres could be made by a kick to touch.
Winning a penalty from a Cheltenham scrum, Tom Stanley charged towards the Cheltenham 22 once more, then Bobby Scott-Walker took the ball to the line and popped it up off the floor to 13 Mellor who was following up on the positive attacking play, taking the ball and swerving around the Cheltenham 15 to score to the right of the posts. 28-20, and the conversion would earn Stratford a losing bonus point. Gwilym Davis duly delivered and despite the result, there were half smiles on the Stratford faces.
Player of the Match on the day went to Gwilym Davis, another tough decision, considering how much the whole team had put into the game. Stratford should take heart from knowing that they had the beating of Cheltenham, even with the missing man and the loss of inspirational vice-captain Jonny Smith just before half-time, due to a shoulder dislocation.
Stratford: 1. Geoff Dyson, 2. Seb Grace, 3. Tom Stanley (C), 4. Sam James, 5. Will Dobbin, 6. Zak Hamersley, 7. Jonny Smith (VC), 8. Jack Young, 9. Jake Lowe, 10. Bobby Scott-Walker, 11. Chris Bolton, 12. Gwilym Davis, 13. Lewis Mellor, 14. Tom Houlahan, 15. Nathan Geekie. Subs: 16. Michael Dawes, 17. Danny Earp, 18. George Fox.
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