Stoke win away to Clevedon, on the move!

Clevedon 13 pts v Basingstoke 36 pts Sat 24th September 2005

BASINGSTOKE RFC claimed their historic first win as a SouthWest 1 rugby club after a strong secondhalf performance yielded deserved success for Jim Dixon’s men. A newlook pack, with Dixon at hooker alongside new props Shane Murphy and Kym Townsend in the front row, worked well in the scrums, an area concentrated on in training last week and the second row won good lineout ball. This gave the backs room to move and allowed them to show their skill and pace. The only problem area came in the first half when the ’Stoke players were continually penalised for handling in the ruck. This was discussed at half-time and rectified in the second half, which meant the forwards were able to win more ball. Speaking about that half-time team chat and the overall victory, Dixon said: "It was difficult to understand why we were penalised so often in the first half. We kept asking the referee what the problem was but were still none the wiser. So we said to the boys to just leave the ball alone when going in the ruck and keep our hands away. It worked and our second half was excellent. We were always confident we would win – we just had that collective feeling as a side. They didn’t like the way the forwards played as unit, which we did very well, and that allowed us to win ball and gave the backs freedom. Our pattern of play was good and so was our support play, which allowed us to score four tries to their two."

Captain Simon Appleby, who claimed two tries, added: "It’s nice to get that first win but we know there is room for improvement. It’s a good starting point for us to push on as a team." The game started with ’Stoke applying the pressure, recycling the ball several times, before Clevedon were penalised. Simon Humberstone duly opened the scoring to make it 3-0 to ’Stoke. Clevedon then hit back and ’Stoke were pena lised at the breakdowns. By the 20th minute, Clevedon had missed two kicks at goal and, after another penalty, chose to kick to touch instead of at goal. ’Stoke dealt well with Clevedon’s attempts to catch and drive for the tryline. The visitors then broke out of defence and were unlucky not to score when Dave Lambert seemed to be held back illegally 10 metres out. However, ’Stoke continued to pressure the home defence and Humberstone added another penalty on 25 minutes to put his side 6-0 up. Clevedon had the final say in the half with a penalty on 38 minutes and a try on 40 minutes to lead 8-6 at the break.

But the second half was dominated by ’Stoke playing sensible rugby – clearing their lines when needed, putting together good phases of play and, more importantly, not giving away penalties. The scoring started on 49 minutes when ’Stoke went for touch and not goal. Unlike the home side, they caught and drove from the lineout to allow Appleby to score for a 11-8 lead. On 57 minutes, Humberstone converted a penalty from near halfway, to nudge ’Stoke further ahead. Now in total control and with confidence flowing, ’Stoke were further rewarded with tries from scrum-half Darren Lillywhite and Appleby – both converted by Humberstone – for a 28-8 advantage by 65 minutes. Although Clevedon scored a try on 70 minutes, ’Stoke were still two scores ahead and refused to let their opponents back into the game. They finished firmly on top and Humberstone added a penalty on 73 minutes, while Dixon rounded off proceedings with a close range effort on 78 minutes.

Team: Simon Humberstone, Dave Lambert, Gareth Jones, Matt Lucas, Ollie Rogers, Karl Marshall, Darren Lillywhite, Shane Murphy, Jim Dixon, Kym Townsend, Andy Wilson, Russell Northcote (Phil Perkins 71 mins), Ross Stirling, Simon Appleby, Nate Mantle. Not used: Carl Saunders, Simon Crew.

link to RFU site