Stoke steam roll Old Pats.

Basingstoke 49 pts v Old Patesians 8 pts
FX-backed Basingstoke continued their recent good form with a good all-round team display, that demolished 2nd placed opposition Old Patesians. Stoke ran out deserved winners, scoring seven tries and avenging Septembers defeat at the hands of the Gloucestershire side in the process. Stoke started the better of the two teams and took the lead with a Calder penalty after 4 minutes. Old Pats responded with a penalty to level the scores, but from then on it was all Stoke as they scored 46 unanswered points. Chris Norton scored the first try as he was quickest to reach a Calder kick and touch down in the corner. Their lead was extended after 27 minutes when Tom Dean scrambled over after a well-worked move from a scrum. Calder converted well from the touchline for 15-3 lead. Calder added his second penalty as Stoke looked to finish the game before half-time, but they couldn't find that killer touch and so settled for an 18-3 half-time lead.

Playing with a strong wind in the second-half Old Pats were expected to hit back, but it was Stoke who again made all the running. They applied pressure straight from the restart and were rewarded after only 4 minutes when in-form Selwyn St. Bernard crashed through several tackles to score under the posts. Calders conversion gave Stoke a 22 point lead. The game was wrapped up 8 minutes latter when Tom Dean scored his second try of the game with Calders conversion making the score 32-3. He completed his hat-trick after 21 minutes when brilliant ball retention eventually put him over in the corner. Stoke weren't going to stop there though as 2 Old Pats players were sin-binned for separate incidents handing Stoke an advantage that they didn't really need. However they took the advantage and added 2 more tries. Calder crossed, only to find it disallowed for a forward pass before Yann Cullum latched onto a Neal Taylor chip to the corner. Stoke then rung the changes as Steve Buttle, Selwyn St. Bernard and Calder were replaced by Rob Northcote, Marcus Reeve and Neil Young. It didn't upset their rhythm though as Dave Lambert completed Stokes scoring with a converted try after Stoke had stolen Old Pats lineout ball. Pats did get a consolation try with the last move of the game after Kelvin Chapman had been harshly sin-binned they produced a push-over try to leave the final score at 49-8.
After the game Calder said: "It was an excellent team performance that produced a brilliant win." He was quick to praise the unsung workhorses of the team like the front row of Collins, Buttle and Evans and other forwards Drawbridge, Chapman and St. Bernard, adding "At times are defence was awesome and we restricted the opposition from playing. We need to continue in this form to enable us to move up the table, and after beating the second in the league it shows the spirit we have in the team"

NEXT GAME Saturday 14th December home to Tabard,National 3 South. k.o 2:15 pm.
                

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