Sat 14 Feb 2026, 14:15
Stratford 32 - 24 Malvern
Malvern headed over to Stratford with hopes of the resounding victory in the reverse fixture earlier in the season happening again, perhaps not with love on their mind despite the date. Stratford lost winger George Fox in one of the very first actions of the match, not malicious but showing that the game takes no prisoners. Armin Tofighi was his replacement, and this left Stratford with only forwards fit on the bench.
After dominating the opening period, Stratford went ahead starting from a scrum move just inside Malvern’s half. The stable scrum saw a forwards move to the left before a miss pass by fly half Nathan Geekie put Tofighi in down the wing, making it close to the try line before being stopped having rounded the first defender. Two phases in towards the posts with the ball going through multiple hands put centre Dan Whitby under the post to score. He converted his own score and Stratford led 7-0.
Malvern, to their credit, hit back with a converted try after enjoying their own period of possession and benefited from a missed Stratford tackle in midfield just outside the 22. The teams appeared evenly matched, but Stratford pushed ahead not long after with a successful Whitby penalty making the score 10-7. He had one go wide not long before, but Stratford kept up the pressure on Malvern with good ball recycling and carrying by multiple players allowing him a second opportunity.
The rest of the half passed mainly without any scores except for one Malvern try which put them back ahead, 10-12 at the break. When attacking, Stratford looked good with solid carries from Zak Amond, Sam James, Tom Stanley and Michael Dawes. In the backs, speed and potential line breaks showed that they should be able to score in the second half if everything went to plan. The defence in general was just as good, aside from the two tries which they no doubt felt they could have stopped.
After the restart both teams went at it again, but defences proved tough enough until around 10 minutes in when lock Amond benefit from Stratford field position. A scrum on the Malvern 5 m line in the right-hand corner saw Stratford’s relative scrum dominance in the game pay dividends, being ordered a free kick. They tapped and went, and three phases after Amond powered in to score just to the right of the post. Kicker Whitby added the extras and Stratford now led 17-12. Malvern hit back not long after but scored in the corner and missing the conversion meant the score was tied at 17 all. The half was seeming to swing both ways at this early stage.
Stratford replied once more, this time with Whitby being put in on the right side after multiple phases and hard work by the forwards got them not far from the Malvern try line. Possibly having worked so hard to score, sadly he missed the conversion, but Stratford were back ahead 22-17, utilising their substitutes helping to rotate the forwards and keep fresh legs on the pitch.
Whitby put Stratford further ahead as he was successful with another penalty kick, pushing the score up to 25-17, coinciding with a Malvern sin bin in front of the uprights. Stratford now had the win in their sights with 15 minutes left and 10 of them with the extra man. This field position had come from a strong run by Captain Jonny Smith, not to be outdone by the other forwards mentioned earlier.
Getting back into the Malvern half thanks to a discretion that the referee chose not to card for but gave Stratford the penalty no less, Stratford had a lineout 10 m from the 22 on the right-hand side. An overthrown lineout landed in the hands of Amond who powered on and allowing quick ruck ball and setting the wheels in motion. With Stanley as a decoy fly half Geekie spread the ball to his centre Whitby who threw a dummy, drew a man and popped the ball to outside centre Charlie Powell, who gaining an extra boost from his handoff on the defender went round the final man to score on the left-hand side. Whitby converted and gave Stratford a 32-17 lead.
Forced into a change late on, Stratford’s Tofighi went off after making a brave tackle that then ruled him out the last five minutes having performed well since his early introduction. With the extra man now returned to the field, Malvern did everything they could to pressure the Stratford line, but the defence stood up until almost the very end. Malvern broke away from inside their own half when winger Charlie Billings stepped in to help his fellow player embroiled in a scuffle and Malvern pounced, sent the ball wide, eventually cutting back into score under the posts and in the match 32-24.
Stratford were good value for their win, deserving it thoroughly with many standout performances, not to mention the boost Stratford have had in the last month due to the return of long-term injury Charlie Powell at outside centre. Nathan Geekie has shone since stepping into fly half in the absence of Australia bound Gwilym Davies. Jonny Smith was awarded player of the match on the day having set a great example and kept his forwards working hard throughout the whole match. Being able to rotate the forwards with substitutes James Patterson and Sam Brittiann when necessary helped Stratford get over the line.
Stratford XV: 1. Michael Dawes* 2. Dom Leach 3. Tom Stanley* 4. Laurence Birch* 5. Zak Amond* 6. Dom Wan* 7. Sam James* 8. Jonny Smith* (C) 9. Jake Lowe 10. Nathan Geekie*(VC) 11. George Fox* 12. Dan Whitby 13. Charlie Powell* 14. Charlie Billings* 15. Andy Oliver 16. James Paterson* 17. Sam Brittian 18. Armin Tofighi*
*Denotes product of Stratford minis and juniors
