Basingstoke 0 pts v Richmond 11 pts at Pack Lane,Basingstoke Dec 15th 2007
Report by courtesy of Basingstoke Gazette.

Stoke put in a superb display to push league leaders Richmond all the way and had a couple of kicks not gone the wrong side of the posts could of pulled off a victory. Unlike their earlier encounter Stoke were on the front foot from the off and disrupted Richmond in all aspects of the game and did not allow them to settle into a rhythm.

A positive Dixon added "This was a collective and competitive performance that has now to be the bench mark for the rest of the season. To-day we showed what we are capable of against a very good side and I am delighted with the players attitude and commitment". Whilst this was a team performance two areas of the home side led the way with the back row of Appleby, voted man of the match and a constant thorn to the visitors, Robbie Norhcote and Cooper working well as a unit, and the mid field trio of Argent, Buckland and Russell solid in defence. Skipper Neil Young was also delighted adding "I was pleased how the younger players stepped up to the mark to-day and showed what they are capable of. We had all 18 players wanting to play for each other and were unlucky not to get something out of the game." Richmond opened the scoring on 11 minutes with a Matt Hart penalty after the home side were penalised for coming in at the side. Whilst the visitors had the upper hand Stoke stood firm in defence and grew in confidence as the match progressed. As a result they got themselves into Richmond's territory and were rewarded for their efforts when the visitors were penalised twice for being off side on 29 and 31 minutes. Stoke opted to have a kick at goal on both occasions and both narrowly missed to get points on the board. This left the half time score at 3-0 to the visitors.

With hopes of a possible win Stoke got off to the worst possible start after the first minute of the second half. A long clearance by the home side saw the ball in Richmond's 22. Hart collected and started a counter attack which resulted in a try for their left winger Piggot, who scored a hat trick in the previous encounter, and extend the lead to 8-0. Stoke showed true character by standing firm in defence and taking the game back to Richmond at evert opportunity. The home side worked hard but didn't quite create clear cut chances. Dixon started to put fresh legs on to keep the intensity going, with Folan on for Oliver on 63. Argent, who was praised by his skipper, was withdrawn on 68 minutes with the reliable Barton moving to number 10 and Williams for Northcote on 71. Richmond finally finished the game off in the 5th minute of added time with a Hart penalty to leave the final score 11-0 to the visitors and still league leaders and the good size crowd showing their appreciation for the effort they witnessed. Once again the line outs went well and the scrums solid with Cooper tidying up any loose ball. It was at the breakdown that Stoke were more competitive than the last fixture. The defence worked hard and in doing so restricted Richmond to their lowest points score of the season, and only conceding the one try.

Dixon further added " The players had a meeting earlier on in the week and fed back their objectives to myself and Chris Cook. They were very positive and showed ownership, and to-day we saw what we can do as a team. We now start the reverse fixtures and have every opportunity to get some wins under our belts. We have to keep the intensity at a high level both at training and on match days, as we showed to-day."

Team: Barton, Richards, Buckland, Russell, Buttle, Argent (Lewis), Lillywhite, Young (Capt), Hawea, Oliver (Folan), Stirling, Scott, Northcote(Rob) (Williams), Appleby, Cooper.