Old Albanians 38 pts v Basingstoke 19 pts, Feb 16th 2008
Report by courtesy of Basingstoke Gazette.

Whilst Stoke put in an improved performance it was not good enough for a win and with other results not helping they are now rooted in the relegation zone. When Stoke played on the front foot they made their opponents look an ordinary side but too often they stood off and allowed the home side to dominate the play and territory, which is how the first quarter started. Albanians had a bigger pack and liked to play a rolling maul game and Stoke struggled to deal effectively with this which allowed the home side to have a lot of early possession and give their backs room to spread the ball around. In the first 10 minutes Albanians knocked the ball forward over the line and had a try called back for a foot in touch as Stoke struggled to get out of their own half. Stoke also suffered a blow when Cooper had to leave the field with a serious looking knee injury. Pressure eventually told and the home team created a converted try on 20 minutes for a 7-0 lead. They then scored straight from receiving the restart to run from inside their own 22 and a 14-0 advantage. Stoke regrouped almost immediately to get themselves on the scoreboard. From a scrum just inside the home teams half Buckland made one of his trade mark breaks to breech the defence and head for the 22. Faced with the last line of defence he put in a clever chip only to find Appleby out pace him to collect the bounce and score under the posts and O'Flanagan to convert and 14-7 down on 25 minutes. The home side were playing good rugby and were rewarded with another try on 33 minutes after putting several phases together for a 19-7 advantage. For the remainder of the half Stoke managed to get among their opponents and put them off their stride, forcing them into errors and getting possession. Right on half time Stoke were unlucky not to score when a break from their own 22 involving several players ended with the scoring pass being knock on 10 metres from the line.

Stoke had to re-arrange their front row at half time after losing Goodman, who was settling in nicely, with a recurrence of a long standing ankle injury. Albanians put Stoke under pressure at the start of the second half following a good kick to the corner. Stoke failed to win their own line out but managed to win a scrum from the resultant play. The home side drove Stoke off their own ball and eventually scored from a rolling maul and 24-7. The game went away from Stoke when in the space of 5 minutes they were reduced to 13 players when firstly Richardson and then Goodall were shown yellow cards on 55 and 60 minutes. Both decisions seemed harsh, the first for not rolling away when he was on his feet and the second for a spear tackle that was more late than dangerous. On 60 minutes the home side were awarded a penalty try for Stoke players detaching from a scrum 5 metres out and scored again on 64 after Stoke missed a kick to touch and missed tackles allowed progress to the line. Both were converted for a 38-7 advantage. Whilst down by 2 players Stoke showed a greater commitment and spirit led by Appleby and followed by Williams and Scott. This effort continued when back to a full compliment and they showed what they were capable of in the last 15 minutes as a team. In the final 10 minutes Stoke ran in two tries. The first after deciding to take a quick penalty, ended with Dixon scoring in the corner. As the half was drawing to an end Stoke broke from just inside their own half with first Appleby and then Scott making ground before the pass to Buttle saw him finish the move out pacing the defence for O'Flanagan to convert and a final score of 38-19. Stoke can draw strength from some aspects of the game but have to eliminate errors that cost them such as not securing your own ball at crucial times and too many poor kicks giving the ball away.

Dixon added "There were some encouraging signs of the progress since last week but we need to be more consistent with our game. One area we have to work at is our first up tackling as we allowed them to cross the gain line too often. I was pleased how we all got some momentum at times to show how this young side can compete." Team: Barton, Lewis (Northcote), Buckland, Goodall, Buttle, O'Flanagan, Lillywhite (Cpt), Goodman (Folan), Hawea, Matthews, Scott, Williams, Appleby, Dixon, Cooper (Richardson).