Bishops Stortford 36 pts v Basingstoke 5 pts at Stortford January 26th 2008
Report by courtesy of Basingstoke Gazette.

Stoke lost the opportunity to increase the gap against fellow strugglers Bishop Stortford by gifting their opponents four tries in the first half to trail 26-0 at the break and a mountain to climb in the second half. Stoke gave away to much turn over ball against a larger pack but did not get to grips at the break down and dropped passes in attacking situations cost them dearly. After the opening exchanges it was Stoke who had the first sighting of the line, after choosing to kick for the corner and not attempt for goal on 11 minutes. Having won good clean ball at the front 10 metres from the line the well drilled home defensive line-out stole the ball. A clearance kick from the home side was well fielded by Buttle on the half way. He started off on one of his runs and as the defence closed him down a kick sliced off his foot to the opposition who launched a counter attack. A chip ahead inside Stokes 22 bounced nicely for a try and conversion and a 7-0 lead for the home side on 12. Stortford never looked that threatening from set play but were very disruptive in the loose and played percentage rugby when they had to, as on 20 minutes. Having gained a turn over Stortford once again, playing the elements well, kicked down field. Goodall gathered the bouncing ball and tried to break out when a clearance kick could have been the better option and was penalised for holding on in the tackle. The home side kicked for the corner where they duly won the line-out and a drive resulted in a try and a 12-0 lead on 22. Stoke tried to get back in the game and some pick and drives worked well but too often the ball was lost at the break down or a poor pass and the home side were able to clear their lines. On 33 minutes and Stoke attacking in their opponents 22 the ball went to ground and recovered by a Stortford player who broke out of defence, went round two Stoke players and avoided all chasing players to score and a fine touch line conversion made it 19-0. Right on half time disaster struck again when Stoke dropped a pass in the home sides 22 for them to kick through. With the ball bouncing a Stortford player was first to the ball and kicked on again and win the chase for the line and touch down with the 2 points added and a half time lead of 26-0.

Stoke needed to score early if they were to get back in the game. They dominated the first 10 minutes of the second half but were unable to score. On 42 minutes Lillywhite chipped ahead from 10 metres out and Appleby caught the ball over the line but could not quite ground it as he was held up. Stoke then had a penalty in front of the posts but chose to kick for the corner and a line out. Once again the home defence stood strong and repelled the resultant drive for the line. Stortford cleared their lines on 50 minutes without conceding a score. Stortford then got in Stokes 22 and were awarded a penalty which was duly converted and a 29-0 lead on 53. On 70 minutes Stortford scored a good try from a line out on Stokes 22 with a double switch and a try under the posts for a simple conversion and 36-0 lead. On 80 minutes Stoke managed a score when a long pass from O'Flanaghan allowed winger Lewis to scamper in from 20 metres and 5 points. Overall Stoke Struggled to get clean ball from the scrum or line out and were outplayed at the break down and as a result were never allowed to stamp their authority on the match. O'Flanaghan had a steady debut but this was not a game to assess his true ability.

After skipper Young gave an honest appraisal of his teams' performance "That was not good enough or acceptable. We knew they were going to throw everything at us, but we did not front up. Yes they were physically bigger than us but we did nothing to stop them at the break down."

Team: Goodall (Lewis), Barton, Buckland, Richards, Buttle, O'Flanaghan, Lillywhite, Young, Hawea (Folan), Oliver, Scott, O'Leary (Williams), Appleby, Dixon, Cooper.