Same again as Stoke slump.

Basingstoke 3 pts v Old Albanians 27 pts

FX backed Stoke suffered another defeat against a side they had targeted to win against. This result also means that they stay on nil points at the bottom of the table after six games. It was more of the same for Stoke as early as the first minute they conceded a needless penalty which the visitors kicked deep into the home sides 22. A period of sustained pressure resulted in a score on 3 minutes to take an early 5-0 lead. On a very wet and windy day the visitors took advantage of the elements and continued to force Stoke deep into their own half. As a result another score came on 11 minutes when an unforced handling error gave the visitors the ball on the Stoke 22 and secure a try to extend the lead to 10-0.
Stoke again became their worst enemy on the first visit into Old Albanians 22, when a smart break from Feausi, he linked up with Evans inside the 22, and 5 metres from the line gave the ball away. Even though Stoke managed to stay for a short period in the visitors 22 they came away with nothing when 7 points were on offer.
The visitors continued to play the elements well and were rewarded with two unconverted tries on 28 and 32 minutes to extend their lead to 20-nil. Stoke continued to attempt to play rugby into the howling wind and with a sortie into the visitors 22 were left wanting when 10 metres from the line with support players nearby the ball was again needlessly thrown away and a try scoring chance lost. However, this time Stoke applied the pressure and Dixon was held up on the line before a turn over ball allowed Albanians to clear the ball. On the stroke of half time some slack marking allowed the visitors to score a simple try going under the posts for a converted try to leave the half time score 27-nil to the visitors and if their kicker had been more successful the score could of been worse.

Now playing with the wind Stoke had the opportunity to play in their opponents half and were rewarded with 3 points on 42 minutes when the visitors conceeded a penalty on their 22 for Humberstone score.
Continued pressure resulted in another penalty on 47 minutes which Humberstone narrowly pushed wide. Stoke were winning ball but once more they to often gave away possession by either being dispossessed or giving away needless penalties. On numerous occasions Stoke made ground with a pick and drive but did go one phase to far too often.
Few chances were created although Appleby was held up on the line. The visitors played the elements better than Stoke but if the home team had converted the two opportunities in the first half and crossed the line instead of being held up then it could of been a different story. Steve Collins made a good return and was voted man of the match but too often options were limited by the lack of runners being available and the needless turn over of possession.

After Dixon added "That was a very disappointing performance after all the hard work we have put in at training. What we talked about and did in training we did not put into practice out there . Too often we are giving the ball away and have still not learnt how to be patient in the oppositon 22."

Team: Parsons, Van. Vaarsveld (Lucas), Buckland, Feausi, Rogers, Humberstone, Byett, Collins, Evans, Perkins (Davenport), Wilson, Hampson (Northcote R.), Northcote T., Appleby, Dixon.