Sat 24 Oct 2026, 15:00
Berkswell & Balsall 13-26 Stratford
Stratford travelled over to Berkswell & Balsall (Berkswell) knowing what to expect from the hosts, and with the tail end of storm Austin pointing towards an attritional encounter in the driving wind and rain. A late withdrawal meant that Sam Ragg moved into seven, for his first Stratford starting debut and saw Dan Head, a Colt last year, promoted to the bench.
Stratford invited Berkswell onto them early, penalised at the first ruck on the halfway from the kick-off they saw themselves defending a lineout 6 m from the line. After that had broken down, and Berkswell ran at the line from a scrum, the ball bounced free and Stratford cleared out the half but before they knew it, they were defending on their own 22 again. Conceding a further penalty, Stratford went behind when Berkswell full-back took the points, centre field on the 22, 3-0.
Steadying themselves, Stratford soaked up some further Berkswell attack and then turned them over in the lineout. Multiple phases around the middle third allowed them to build their confidence and sadly set the tone for the rucks, with all sorts of shenanigans on the ground. A penalty for a high tackle allowed Stratford fly half Seb Hillard to kick deep into the corner and to try to get themselves ahead.
With the lineout secured, lock Zak Amond popped out down the blindside but was stopped just short of the try line as Stratford looked to work the ball back around the side of the rucks and smash their way over. Amond got his hands back on the ball and did the honours two phases later but, owing to the try position, outside centre and kicker Dan Whitby pulled the kick wide, not able to fully compensate for the wind. Stratford now led 3-5.
Stratford worked hard over the next five minutes, ensuring that rucks were secured before their opponents could try and steal the ball. In the driving wind and rain, it would have been easy to hide on the pitch, but everyone was getting stuck in. A penalty awarded to Stratford in the Berkswell half was kicked to the far-right corner to set up another attacking lineout. Hooker James Paterson snuck down the blindside and as he was being brought down, popped the ball back inside for scrum-half Dan Lewis to score a try 10 m from the corner flag. Whitby, from his more difficult side, made the conversion to move Stratford out to a 3-12 lead.
Berkswell then managed to get themselves back in the game, making progress with continual big carries by their sizeable pack. Their forwards forced an eventual shuffle in Stratford’s pack with lock Amond moving to prop to stem the Berkswell drive, especially on Stratford Ball. Before this was implemented Berkswell drove Stratford off their own ball earning a penalty which got them an attacking lineout just inside Stratford’s 22.
Continued attack led to a Berkswell try in the left corner, sucking in the Stratford defenders they threw the ball wide, and with passes going to hand it was a simple score in the corner. There kicker added the extras to bring the score back to 10-12 and show that they would not be left behind on the scoreboard at home. In a scrappy game, Stratford then let Berkswell in again, a silly penalty in the ruck this time, Berkswell chose to take points and a half-time lead 13-12.
Having squandered the chance to retake the lead into half-time, Stratford got the second half underway, now attacking up the hill. Stratford made their way into the Berkswell half when full-back Charlie Powell took a deep clearing kick and offloaded out to right side winger Charlie Billings who made it well into the other half. From here, Stratford worked the phases, suffering one setback, but ultimately ending up in the Berkswell 22.
With a ruck formed on the left side, the ball was moved infield and at the next ruck, right back to the left where Stratford number eight Jamie Jones made the most of a relative walk in with a minor bust up from the penultimate ruck occupying a selection of players, home and away.
Stratford came away with the full seven points thanks to the conversion by Whitby and full-back Powell now appeared to have a black eye, later discovered to be just mud. The referee took a moment to speak to both captains informing them to calm their players down and warning a few specifically in the same chat. Stratford were now leading 13-19.
The game continued to be played mostly in the Berkswell half, and not long after the last try, Berkswell went down to 14 when their seven saw yellow, most probably the victim of a team yellow card more so than any direct involvement in altercations. The game restarted with the Berkswell scrum, which the 10 chose to kick cross field, a decision he was made to regret when the ball bounced down between his 13 and 14 and onto the toes of the onrushing Stratford winger Andy Oliver. The ball was projected up the hill and Oliver got a 2nd foot on it, pushing it over the try line and allowing him to score in a very composed fashion. Whitby again added the extras and Stratford moved out to 13-26.
By the time Berkswell returned to 15, Stratford had made a change with Ianto Davis replacing James Paterson and after a brief pause to treat numerous injuries, the game got underway again with a Berkswell scrum. Despite the rain easing up a little, the game was slowing in pace with knock-ons and turnovers leading to scrums and lineouts. The game continued to be played in the Berkswell half until a series of errors from Stratford, attacking the scrumhalf at the back of a ruck on the assumption ball was out, followed by a forward pass just inside their own 22, having prevented a Berkswell attacking lineout.
With around 10 minutes to go, Stratford made two more changes with Ben Humphreys and Dan Head (the latter on first-team debut) replacing Dan Lewis and Lawrence Birch. Berkswell squandered their good field position by sealing off in a ruck and then being marched 10 m backwards for their protests, allowing Stratford to kick to the corner.
Stratford worked the phases and powered over the Berkswell line to the right of the posts, only to be disappointed by the referee declaring the ball held up and a try line dropout. Stratford maintained the attack from the dropout and started a series of pick-and-goes from the back of tidy rucks; they were clearly out for one more try despite already securing the bonus point.
A penalty in front of the posts saw Berkswell remain under the pump with the Stratford forwards tapping and going left. The second of these phases led ultimately to the end of the game as the would-be defender got his head caught on the wrong side, resulting in a knockout and concern from all involved. The game was called to a halt quickly, with coaches and physios alike rushing to the players aid, he eventually regained consciousness but with minutes left the game was ended there. After some time, the Berkswell player seemed generally well but was taken off to hospital just to be sure.
Player of the match went to Sam Ragg playing the full 80 on his debut, not shying away from any action, even stepping forward to carry the ball when necessary. All the players could be proud coming away with a bonus point when in trying circumstances as a group they had a great mix of experience and youth and will continue their winning run into their next match.
Stratford next play at home October 31, taking on Bromyard in a 3 PM kick-off, before they get the benefit of a free weekend at the start of November.
Stratford XV: 1. Michael Dawes* (VC) 2. James Paterson 3. Tom Stanley* 4. James Walton 5. Zak Amond* 6. Lawrence Birch* 7. Sam Ragg* 8. Jamie Jones* 9. Dan Lewis* 10. Seb Hillard* 11. Charlie Billings* 12. Gwil Davis* (C) 13. Dan Whitby 14. Andy Oliver 15. Charlie Powell* (VC) 16. Dan Head 17. Ianto Davis* 18. Ben Humphreys
*Denotes product of Stratford minis and juniors
