Stoke go down!

Clifton 22 pts v Basingstoke 0 pts, at Pack Lane Sat 8th October 2005

SOUTH-WEST one leaders Clifton took advantage of an under-par Basingstoke display to underline their credentials as promotion favourites. In this top-of-the-table meeting – ’Stoke were third as they took to the Station Road pitch on Saturday – Jim Dixon’s men suffered a blow before the match began when prop Kym Townsend picked up an injury. But in heavy rain and conditions that added to the challenge, ’Stoke began well and spent the first five minutes camped within their opponents’ half. However, following a Clifton infringement, Simon Humberstone’s 50-metre penalty just missed the left post. ’Stoke continued their territorial pressure until a loose pass saw Clifton stand-off John Barnes intercept and sprint 60 metres for a try he duly converted. The two sides looked evenly matched in the opening 20 minutes, but then Clifton went 14-0 ahead when, after their first good phase of rugby, they got a forward-orientated try which Barnes converted. Clifton were playing the conditions better than ’Stoke, who tried to play a more expansive game in weather that didn’t suit such an approach. As a result, they either spilled the ball or gave it away with poor kicking. After another disappointing first-half performance – a trend of the last three weeks now – but one where the forwards matched their hosts, particularly in the setpieces, ’Stoke found themselves needing a big second half if they were to get anything from the game.
Humberstone hit the post with a penalty on the stroke of half-time and the half-time review focused on the need to play a tighter game and use the forwards more. ’Stoke’s recovery task wasn’t helped when Humberstone missed another penalty, but the new tactics worked until poor discipline allowed Clifton an easy shot at three points 15 minutes into the half. Barnes took the opportunity gladly to give Clifton a 17-0 lead. ’Stoke then found themselves on the receiving end of some good Clifton play which offered the Bristol side numerous scoring chances. However, they only took one of them with a try – two dropped balls on the line and two missed penalties keeping Clifton from amassing a big lead.

After a very disappointing match, there were some sombre faces in the dressing room, with only the pack to thank for ensuring some respectability. This was not the way that the giant from Canada, Nate Mantle, wished to celebrate his recent engagement to fiancé Victoria.

Speaking about the result, player-coach Jim Dixon, who, along with Simon Lovegrove, was also injured during the game, said: "That was very disappointing, as we didn’t perform to our best. "They are probably the favourites to go up but we know that we are capable of beating them in the return fixture at Down Grange. "We haven’t got that third win in a row we wanted, but we now need to put a run of victories together so we keep on the tail of Clifton and stay close to the top teams."

’Stoke: Simon Humberstone; Dave Lambert, Simon Buckland, Matt Lucas, Gareth Jones; Carl Marshall, Darren Lillywhite (rep Jamie Fish); Shane Murphy, Simon Lovegrove (rep Kym Townsend), Phil Perkins, Andy Wilson, Nate Mantle (rep Simon Crew), Ross Stirling, Simon Appleby, Jim Dixon.

link to RFU site