Basingstoke 7 pts v Shelford 47 pts , March 29th 2008
Report by courtesy of Basingstoke Gazette.

Stoke were punished by their visitors for making too many mistakes and conceded seven tries on a very wet and windy afternoon that now sees Stoke relegated to London 2 South. The damage was done in the first half when Shelford ran in 5 converted tries, playing with the strong wind in their favour, for a 35-0 half time lead. Credit must be given to Stoke for their second half performance especially the last 20 minutes. The first score came on 5 minutes after a Stoke scrum was wheeled and the put in went to the visitors. They duly won the 5 metre scrum and picking from the base crashed over and a 7-0 lead. On 17 minutes Stoke had a player isolated and the ball turned over. Shelford went blind and the winger chipped over the defence from 30 metres out. The Stoke defender always looked to be first to the ball and stop the score but as he entered the dead ball area he miss kicked the ball to safety and chasing winger touched down. Stoke had a good spell taking the play into the visitors 22 but gave away a silly penalty. The Shelford 10, who had a good game, punished Stoke for their mistake and kicked the penalty back into Stokes 22. Good ball won from the line out and pressure resulted in a further 7 points on 22. 7 minutes latter and Stoke were punished again after a knock on was given against them on their own 22. Shelford picked from the scrum and some missed tackles allowed the gain line to be broken and a score resulting for a 28-0 lead to the visitors. The final score of the half came on 36 minutes as a result of pressure from the visitors but also after Stoke had given away a penalty for holding on and a turn over after a player was isolated, for a 35-0 half time score.

Stoke were again punished early in the second half. Firstly a kick down field went dead and a scrum back inside the Stoke half and the visitors put in. After winning the scrum and ground gained by Shelford Stoke gave away a penalty which was kicked to the corner. From the resultant line out and good possession the visitors extended their lead to 42-0 on 45 minutes. Stoke kept plugging away and on 50 minutes Buttle, receiving the ball for the first time in open play, cut through a gap on half way. With only the full back to beat he tried to take him on when a pass to a supporting player could have been a better option. Stoke kept the pressure on inside the visitors 22 and went close on a number of occasions. A 5 metre scrum for Stoke during this period of pressure was disrupted when a visiting player seemed to kick the ball, illegally, out of the scrum from an offside position. No whistle from the ref and the Shelford players were first to respond. They interchanged some good passes and eventually went to the other end and score an unconverted try and a 47-0 lead on 52. Stoke continued to play with spirit and after holding parity for the next 25 minutes were finally rewarded with a score of their own. Buttle was again the provider when receiving the ball for the second time in open play. Firstly he took a switch pass and ran infield before spotting a gap on the half way line and eluding the defence. 15 metres out he offloaded the ball and the support players kept the ball alive before captain and man of the match Young, finally crashed over to a loud cheer from the home supporters. Barton duly converted for Stoke and made the final score 47-7 to the visitors. Stoke were competitive at set pieces but it was at the break down or tackle area that they were out played and suffered turn overs. Too often a player would be isolated when perhaps pods of three players would have secured the ball better and make more ground.

After Dixon added "I was pleased with the way the players stuck together especially in the second half. It could have been easy to drop our heads at half time but we played as a team and for each other which showed good spirit."

Team: Barton, Lewis, Buckland, Richards, Buttle, Allfry, Lillywhite, Young (Capt), Hawea, Matthews, Scott, O'Leary, Williams (Cooper), Dixon (Richardson), Northcote (Rob)