Sat 14 Dec 2024
On Saturday, Stratford welcomed Cheltenham Tigers to Pearcecroft in their last home game of the calendar year and it could be said that Christmas came early as Stratford vice-captain Dan Whitby, playing inside centre in this game, scored under the posts with no more than a minute gone!
With Stratford kicking off the match, Jamie Jones was able to take the kick on the full with his hands above his head and progressed inside the 22 before being chopped down. Following carries from forwards and backs, 14 Andy Oliver was brought down just inside the 5 m line on the far side. With Cheltenham struggling to get back into position the ball was recycled quickly from here, and in what felt like déjà vu from last week, Whitby drove his way through would-be tacklers and fell just over the line the try. As you’d expect in this position, Whitby converted it, and Stratford were 7-0 ahead.
15 minutes passed before the next score of the game, with Cheltenham having the majority of the possession in attack, on three occasions being held up over Stratford’s try line. A Cheltenham penalty was awarded on the Stratford 22 and they took a quick tap and spread it wide to isolate young winger Ethan Cook with one of their forwards, he stopped the initial attempt with help from his forwards. However, the resulting ruck was not manned properly, and the lack of a guard allowed Cheltenham to dive over the line. The conversion was missed so the scores stood at 7-5.
Following a Cheltenham yellow card, Stratford enjoyed a good amount of possession, though opting for scrums to try and expose the missing Cheltenham back, Stratford weren’t managing to create the overlap. It was not until a scrum penalty against Stratford, 5 m in front of the Cheltenham posts was cleared that Stratford made the breakthrough.
The attempted kick for touch was taken by Ethan Cook, then the ball went through the hands of full-back Jo Cook and centre Whitby, before it was given to Tom Houlahan on the 10 m line, who like his aforementioned centre partner, busted through defenders, only being brought down inside the 22. This was followed by an overload to the right and winger Oliver making ground before the ball went back to Ethan Cook, extending his arm over the line to score. Whitby pulled the conversion wide, and having been injured in the process of scoring, Ethan Cook was replaced by George Fox. Five points scored just before Cheltenham were returned to 15 men.
Stratford got one more just before half-time, with Whitby’s conversion being the final action of the first half. With the Cheltenham players tiring, Stratford backs continued to break the game line whether by stepping their opposite man or driving through attempted tackles. A lovely flowing move to the right inside the Cheltenham half came to an end due to a forward pass but Stratford managed to win a penalty at the scrum. They then found themselves with another on the 5 m line, following Cheltenham defenders being offside. Eight for the day, Angus Wightman picked and went right, brought down just short of the line, but five phases later hooker Ben Cole was able to touch down for the score. 19-5 at half-time.
The second half didn’t start so well Stratford, having been pushed back onto their own line, the referee appeared to have grown tired of multiple infringements and flanker Zak Hamersley was sent to the bin. Things went from bad to worse when Stratford suffered the same fate as they had in the first half, a tap penalty resulting in a ruck close to the posts and a Cheltenham forward picked up the ball and waltz under the posts. Guard duties missed once again, perhaps slightly more excusable with a man missing. With the try converted, the score was now 19-12.
Having extended their lead out to 22-12, from a centre field penalty to use up some of the sin bin period, Stratford worked their way through a tricky period, having to clear from their own line on at least one occasion. When they had the ball, they looked impressive with multiple players making good yardage. After a knock on from Cheltenham inside their own half Stratford, now returned to 15, set a backs move into action from a scrum with both centres split either side of 10, Nathan Geekie, the pop inside was opted for, into the hands of 13 Houlahan. Once he’d stepped inside his opposite man, Houlahan powered through the tackle of the next man and accelerated through and under the posts to score. Whitby added the extras and Stratford had their fourth, bonus point, try!
Cheltenham managed to get one back, almost instantly from the restart after winning a penalty on the Stratford 22 and eventually creating an overlap on the far left. The conversion attempt dropped short, leaving the score at 29-17, which actually turned out to be the final score-due to two long injury delays-both suffered by Cheltenham.
With one back already withdrawn from the pitch, the game continued up until an attempted tackle on Stratford 13 Houlahan went wrong and the defender was left unconscious after banging his head on the ground. Following a long delay, and with 66 minutes passed in the match, the referee drew it to an end with the result standing. Thankfully, the Cheltenham player regained consciousness but was escorted to the, now on the scene, ambulance for medical treatment.
Stratford: 1. Michael Dawes, 2. Ben Cole, 3. Tom Stanley (C), 4. Will Dobbin, 5. Zak Amond, 6. Jamie Jones, 7. Zak Hamersley, 8. Angus Wightman, 9. Jake Lowe, 10. Nathan Geekie, 11. Ethan Cook, 12. Dan Whitby (VC), 13. Tom Houlahan, 14. Andy Oliver, 15. Jo Cook. Subs: 16. Rory Webb, 17. Geoff Dyson, 18. George Fox.
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