Thanet Wanderers 38 pts v Basingstoke 15 pts Oct 27th 2007
Report by courtesy of Basingstoke Gazette.

Stoke suffered an embarrassing defeat against bottom side Thanet going down 5 tries to two in a 38-15 loss. Stoke often gave away turnover ball, did not set a platform to build from and as a result tried to run the ball out of their own 22 when a clearance to touch would of been a better option to relieve the pressure. Also with two of the home side's tries coming from Stokes scrums in promising field positions where Thanet ran the ball from their own 10 metre line and from inside their own 22 as a result of poor set piece from Stoke it was a disappointing day for the visitors.

Chairman of playing Chris Cook summed the performance up by saying "That was totally unacceptable and we need to change things if we are to move forward." Once again Stoke started well and opened the scoring after 5 minutes of pressure. A well worked backs move saw Buttle come off his wing to slice through the home defence from 15 metres out to score with Trendell adding the extras. Slowly the home side began to take control, showing more determination and desire, they put phases of play together. Although they missed a simple kick on 9 minutes they were rewarded with a converted try on 12 to level. On 14 Stoke gave away another penalty to trail 10-7. Stoke struggled to gain any momentum but on 22 minutes a rare visit to Thanet's 22 resulted in a penalty for the visitors ably converted by Trendell to level the scores again. Thanet then redoubled their efforts and a string of six defeats for them seemed hard to believe and sometimes you need a slice of luck. This came on 28 minutes when a poor pass from the scrum on Stokes 22 metre line went astray only to bounce kindly for their centre to burst through and score under the posts and a 17-10 lead. Every time Stoke tried to make inroads either a mistake was made or a turn over and Thanet would end up back in Stoke's 22. Thanet continued to play the better rugby and were scoring on 35 minutes after some good continuity play and the conversion extended their lead to 24-10.

Stoke started the second half in a similar vain to the end of the first half where the first 3 times they had the ball they kicked twice into the oppositions arms and gave away a knock on. On 47 minutes Stoke had a line out 10 metre from the home sides line. A good catch and drive to the line was undone when a Stoke player became detached and penalised for holding on. The game went away from Stoke when on 55 minutes a scrum on Thanets 10 metre line for Stoke shot out of the scrum and the home team ended up scoring with a good conversion showing a healthy lead of 31-10. 13 minutes disaster struck again when the same thing happened, only this time from inside Thanets own 22, scoring wide out and the kick neatly converted to lead 38-10. The visitors plugged away and got a late try on 75 after good work by Buckland and Trendell hooker Hawea crossed for 5 points. Nearing full time Jones made a neat break and fed Dixon, but as so often before, the support was missing and the ball ended back in Stoke's 22. Whilst it was nice to see Buckland back in the fray for the last 20 minutes and Trendell showing he has ability this was a poor performance. This was best summed up by the lengthy inquest held after the game by the players and coaching staff alike.

Team: Barton, Lewis, Richards, Trendell, Buttle, Jones, Lillywhite, Young(Capt), Hawea, Oliver, Scott, Cooper, Stirling(Northcote,T), Dixon, Northcote(Rob) not used Folan.