Sat 30 Nov 2024
In a fixture reversal, Stratford took the kick off at 15:00 to get the game, now away at Edwardians, underway. Having managed to win the ball straight back at the start, Stratford went on the attack spreading the ball across the pitch with the aim of getting the ball outside the opposition centres quickly. When the ball was put back to the left, faced with the prospect of having to tackle either Zak Amond or Tom Stanley, Stanley took the pass and ran deep into the opposition 22 before being stopped. Unfortunately, when the ball was spread to the left, Stratford ran out of room and were taken into touch.
Edwardians were next on the attack, making their way into the Stratford 22, a penalty at the breakdown, another after they took a scrum option, then another, Edwardians decided to tap and go being only 5 m from the line. They spread the ball across the pitch to the left and were able to bundle over just past the posts. With the conversion Edwardians went 7-0 up. Stratford were able to rebuff the next Edwardians attack, winning a turnover penalty in the 22 and clearing just past halfway.
15 minutes into the game, Stratford were awarded a penalty just inside the half after a high tackle on scrum-half Jake Lowe. A kick to touch gave them a lineout on the opposition 10 m line and then the first flare point of the game ensued. Having caught scrum-half Lowe at one of the breakdowns in the next five minutes or so, and then deciding to gouge his eyes, the Edwardians no 5 got away with this appalling act, as the referee's back was turned. A later confrontation between the two saw Stratford no 8 Jack Young springing to his scrum-half’s defence and the result was both he and the original offender were sent to the bin for 10 minutes.
With Young appearing to be more of a loss for Stratford than the opposition player that was binned, Edwardians piled on the pressure and a crossfield kick to the corner took a nice bounce over the try line and was touched down by their 14, with Stratford winger Jo Cook unable to do anything about it. Being right in the corner, the conversion was missed by Edwardians 10, but they now lead 12-0. During the conversion attempt, Lowe was withdrawn from the pitch with his eyes starting to swell and Andy Oliver came on to the wing and Tom Houlahan moved to 9.
Stratford were next to go on the attack, as Edwardians tried to work their way out of their own half, 13 Chris Bolton brought down his opposite man, got straight back to his feet and latched over the ball in the ruck and one position back for Stratford. Lock Amond picked and made a couple more metres before a penalty centre field allowed fly half Gwilym Davis to kick just into the opposition 22 and give Stratford a lineout in a promising position.
Having taken the lineout, the Edwardians forwards were being forced to move backwards disrupting their ability to properly deal with the rucks, due to a running line back inside behind the lineout before the ball was spread out to Stanley, supported by Amond. Quick ruck ball secured, Houlihan spread the ball wide to Davis, who in turn found Dan Whitby and he was able to barrel through the Edwardians centres and slip a lovely pass to Nathan Geekie, fullback for the day, cutting a line and scoring just to the left of the posts. Vice-captain Whitby added the extra two points, Stratford were back in the game 12-7. The game was pretty even from here on in, with the sin bins finishing shortly before the game was brought to a halt for half-time.
With the floodlights now very much needed, Edwardians got the second half off to a start with a frenetic three minutes of back-and-forth before the first break in play when Stratford fumbled the ball but were awarded the penalty that they already had an advantage for due to Edwardians being offside. Both teams had multiple attacks throughout the second half, each also feeling hard done by at refereeing decisions, but it could be argued that they evened themselves out overall.
15 minutes into the second half Stratford went on a promising attack, with a penalty allowing them to have a lineout in the opposition 22. When they spread the ball left towards the posts Edwardians pinched the ball winning a penalty and then complaints by Stratford saw them march back another 10 m allowing Edwardians to clear out of their own half. Having hurt his knee in a Stratford attack, Zak Hamersley was replaced by promising young flanker Jamie Jones, joining Angus Wightman who had also made it onto the pitch himself.
Having survived a number of Edwardians forays into their 22, Stratford worked their way out the half, and with a ruck on their own 10 m line, the ball was given to no 8 Young who stepped inside a hapless Edwardians defender and made 15 yards before drawing in the Edwardians 15 before popping out to Jamie Jones on his left who raced to the try line to get his first try for the black-and-white’s! Unusually, Whitby dragged the kick across the front of the posts, but this still brought Stratford level at 12 apiece.
With the game now back underway, there were still roughly 20 minutes left at this point and the game could go either way. Both teams took turns in trying to get the better of the opposition but always seemed to come up short with a forward pass, knock or turnover penalty ending the phases. It wasn’t until four minutes before the final whistle that either team managed to get a score, with Stratford conceding and facing that all-too-familiar feeling of losing the game in the last five minutes.
A 50-22 gave Edwardians prime position to attack from the right-hand side, although Stratford managed to win back the ball at the lineout, they were unable to make the possession count and a wild pass out to the right was pounced upon by Edwardians and they went on the attack again. The power of the sizable Edwardians forwards, incredibly difficult to bring down on one's own or find your way to their legs without being accused of a failure to wrap your arms, Edwardians eventually scored in the left-hand corner but were unable to convert it, leaving the score 17-12.
With the game brought to a close by the final whistle, it was another one of those days for Stratford, plenty of promising attacks which just didn’t result in the points required to take the victory. Next week, weather permitting, they travel to Hereford two places below them in the league table following this round of fixtures.
Stratford: 1. Michael Dawes, 2. Ben Cole, 3. Tom Stanley (C), 4. Zak Amond, 5. Will Dobbin, 6. Sam James, 7. Zak Hamersley, 8. Jack Young (VC), 9. Jake Lowe, 10. Gwilym Davis, 11. Tom Houlahan, 12. Dan Whitby (VC), 13. Chris Bolton, 14. Jo Cook, 15. Nathan Geekie. Subs: 16. Angus Wightman, 17. Jamie Jones, 18. Andy Oliver.
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