Basingstoke 7 pts v Hertford 32 pts, March 1st 2008
Report by courtesy of Basingstoke Gazette.

Stoke suffered another home defeat at the hands of Hertford and are now 4 points adrift from the side above them with 4 games left to go. Stoke were not helped before the game even started when Goodall injured himself in the warm up and Allfrey, normally a centre, came off the bench to start at full back and leaving them with out a recognised kicker. Playing into a strong diagonal wind Stoke got off to a dream start after only 3 minutes. A mid field scrum was won and Buckland changed the line of attack by going blind, drew the last defenders to off load to Buttle, who out paced any covering defenders to score under the posts. Barton added the extras and the home side were leading 7-0. Stoke held parity for the first quarter but then the bigger visiting forwards started to take more control and got on the score board after 20 minutes with a penalty for off side against a Stoke player to reduce the deficit to 7-3. The visitors took the lead on 25 minutes, after a period of pressure in the Stoke 22, and drove a maul over the line. Whilst the ball looked to have been held up, the ref, who was near by awarded the score which was ably converted in difficult conditions for a 10-7 lead to the visitors. Stoke had numerous break outs from inside their own half with Buttle, Lewis and Lillywhite leading the efforts but they all came to nothing as the home side either made errors or the visitors were able to cover the advances.

At the start of the second half with the diagonal wind behind them and only trailing by 3 points hopes were high for a home victory. The visitors obviously had a different script, keeping the ball tight, releasing their backs at the right moment and generally playing the conditions better whilst not allowing Stoke much ball to use. Hertford got the score board moving on 48 minutes with a tricky penalty to extend their lead to 13-7. The game effectively went away from Stoke in a 3 minute spell. On 54 minutes the visitors scored a converted try and on 57 minutes added another try from a Stoke clearance for a 25-7 lead. During this period Stoke lost 2 players to injury, Folan and Allfrey, causing more reorganisation. Stoke then lost Lewis to injury 5 minutes latter to add to their woes. Whilst Stoke had little ball to work with man of the match Buttle was always looking to run at the visitors but to often found himself out numbered. The visitors finally wrapped the match up on 76 minutes with a try from a shortened line out and a good conversion for a final winning margin of 32-7. The visitors certainly played the conditions better especially with their short line outs and choosing the right options at the right time, something that Stoke need to learn from.

Dixon added after "I was pleased with how we kept going for the 80 minutes and the players stuck to the task well and showed good commitment. It was our first up tackles that let us down at times and we have to be more competitive at the break down."

Team: Allfrey Northcote (Rob), Lewis (Oliver), Buckland, Richards, Buttle, Barton, Lillywhite, Young (Capt), Folan (Hawea), Matthews, Scott, O'Leary, Williams, Dixon, White.