Sat 22 Nov 2025
Stow on the Wold 24 - 0 Stratford
Aiming to get the monkey off their back, the team travelled down the Fosse Way to take on Stow, newly returned to our league, on top of a rain and windswept hill. With kick-off delayed by 15 minutes an impatient crowd gathered with umbrellas at the ready.
Stratford conceded two tries in the first half, not quite as early but certainly more bizarrely than usual. One had the ball travelling backwards over the try line when a big tackle squeezed the ball out at contact with the ground.
Stratford then built into the game, progressing their way up the pitch thanks to solid carries by the pack but struggled to maintain the ball when trying to spread it wide. A couple of opportunities were missed to really pile on the pressure with penalty kicks not going out. After pressure in the Stow half hadn’t been turned into points, a penalty on the halfway line with seconds left saw an attempt at goal which dropped just short, 10-0 at the break.
The second half was a continued tale of missed opportunities with most of the possession, but they just couldn’t break the Stow try line. Though they dominated in scrums, it wasn’t going well when the ball was spread out the back, and the weather was causing havoc with both team’s lineouts.
Stratford conceded a further two tries in the second half, either side of the posts and both were converted seeing Stow win the match 24-0. A day to try and look at the positives, like the introduction of Armin Tofighi from the bench who has returned to Stratford after originally leaving for London. Captain Jonny Smith was Stratford’s Player of the Match for his work rate and leading by example.
Stratford XV: 1. Michael Dawes* 2. Ben Cole 3. Tom Stanley* 4. Dom Leach 5. Laurence Birch* 6. Toby Mendes 7. Jonny Smith* (C) 8. Jamie Jones* 9. Jake Lowe 10. Gwilym Davis* 11. Charle Billings* 12. Dan Whitby 13. Chris Bolton 14. Ben Humphreys 15. Nathan Geekie* 16. Craig O’Donnell 17. David Prichard* 18. Armin Tofighi*
*Denotes product of Stratford minis and juniors
