Sat 28 Mar 2026, 15:00
Edwardians 31 - 14 Stratford
Stratford were playing into the wind in the first half, working hard to turn over and clear the ball but it was never travelling far into touch once it got up high. The wind was playing havoc with both teams though and might be one of the reasons there appeared to be more dropped balls than usual. Unfortunately for Stratford, Edwardians had the extra power in the pack, and it was difficult to keep a solid base for either number eight Jamie Jones or scrum-half Jake Lowe to launch an attack from it.
Despite some positive Stratford attacks, it was Edwardians who scored first though it took until at least the 15th minute to do so. They scored from a scrum centre-field on the Stratford 22 working left and going for phase after phase around the ruck once close to the line, their not-so-secret weapon, crashed over the line to score, converted it was 7-0.
The next significant action of the game was a big talking point in the bar afterwards; Stratford spread the ball to the right on the halfway line and outside centre Dan Whitby broke through a gap with an Edwardians player going to ground holding his head. Whitby was through on the fallback with winger Armin Tofighi to his right in support, not a guaranteed, but a probable try scoring opportunity up until the point the referee blew the whistle. This resulted in a restart on the halfway line with the Stratford scrum and due to the power of Edwardian’s scrum, they instantly won the ball back.
A couple of minutes later and Edwardians went 14-0 up, this time scoring in the right-hand corner after getting in on the outside of Stratford’s defence. No doubt the players had let this earlier refereeing decision get in their heads. To their credit, the boys battled on for the rest of the half and prevented Edwardians from scoring any more tries, quite a feat with the wind helping Edwardians pin them in their own half.
With the wind behind Stratford as they received the kick-off from the second half start, there was a mix-up handling the ball and it ended up with the referee awarding Edwardians a penalty for Stratford player holding onto the ball on the ground. 10 minutes of defence followed, with the occasional out ended by knock-ons or forward passes, and eventually Edwardians added a third try, they now lead 19-0 with this one converted.
Edwardians had added a fourth try before Stratford were able to get on the board. Stratford had made three changes: with Dom Leach being replaced by Dom Wan to add some extra bulk to the scrum; James Paterson replacing an injured Jamie James and Chay Pusey replacing an injured Sam Brittain.
After an attack went wrong for Stratford, they forced the error from Edwardians in the lineout with the ball bouncing down to Stratford’s side and up into the hands of Lowe who spun on the spot and rounded one forward before sprinting down the touchline from the Edwardian 10 m line. Eventually brought down by the Edwardians winger 6 m out, Stratford’s support was there in time to secure the ruck and allow three more phases before prop Tom Stanley smashed over the line to score! The conversion from Whitby made it 24-7.
With the wind behind them, and some renewed believe, Stratford pressed on but suffered a setback not long after the restart, blindside flanker Angus Wightman being sent to the bin for a high tackle, what might have otherwise been referred to as a seatbelt tackle, Wightman appeared to be the victim of “team offences.” With regular number eight and captain Jonny Smith playing centre, Stratford had the choice of where they choose to leave themselves a man short in different circumstances thanks to his utility.
Though a man down, Stratford had a handful of opportunities to attack during this 10-minute period, often spreading the ball out wide and catching Edwardians napping, but falling foul of the touchline or being turned over stopped their progress. A later Stratford attack led to Edwardians next try as a pop ball back inside was tapped up in the air and regathered before a pop off the floor was deflected up and fell perfectly in the hands of the Edwardians 10 to run in and score to the left of the posts, 31-7 with the conversion.
This was immediately followed by the return of Wightman, a long 10 minutes ended when the referee was questioned about time left on the sin bin, but he might cite that there was not a break in play for Wightman to return before the points were scored. Stratford applied pressure from the restart and lock Zak Amond was able to win a turnover penalty at the breakdown just outside Edwardians 22. For the second time in the match, both successfully I might add, he took a quick tap and went, off-loading to Wightman as he was tripped by the defender inside 10 yards, advantage Stratford.
Stratford pressed on from here, with Lowe recycling quickly from the next ruck, spreading the ball to the left through the hands of open side flanker Toby Mendes and to Stanley, just inside the 22 with a three on two possible. This three onto was three Stratford front row facing an Edwardians back and forward, Stanley handed off two would-be defenders before being brought down by covering defence, however the referee took Stratford back for the penalty centre field.
Captain Smith, realising that all the Edwardians defence had moved back to the middle again, received the ball from Lowe and spread it straight back out there to those previously mentioned. Three phases later and Lowe was back on the ball at the back of a ruck, throwing a dummy right and diving over the line to score the final try of the game. Whitby converted to leave the score at a more respectable 31-14, but not the result that Stratford wanted or needed.
Stratford XV: 1. Michael Dawes* 2. Dom Leach 3. Tom Stanley* 4. Zak Amond* 5. Sam Britain 6. Angus Wightman 7. Toby Mendes 8. Jamie Jones* 9. Jake Lowe 10. Gwil Davis* (VC) 11.Armin Tofighi* 12. Jonny Smith* (C) 13. Dan Whitby 14. Charlie Billings* 15. Andy Oliver. Subs: 16. James Paterson* 17. Dom Wan* 18. Chay Pusey*
*Denotes product of Stratford minis and juniors
