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Stoke back on the winning trail! Oxford Harlequins 13 pts v Basingstoke 20 pts at Oxford 25th March 2006 After a disappointing defeat in the final of the Hampshire cup-despite a valiant effort -'Stoke were hoping to end their run of poor performances in the league with an away win at Oxford Harlequins. In what were difficult conditions, with a blustery wind and rain, and the home side in need of a win themselves, it was not going to be easy. 'Stoke-like so often before-started slowly and gave away an immediate six point lead through ill discipline. After 20 minutes 'Stoke started to mount some attacks, and their pressure soon paid off when they were awarded a penalty. Humberstone stepped up and halved the deficit. The rest of the half was all one way traffic with 'Stoke camped in the Quins 22. Although 'Stoke didn't manage to convert any of this pressure into points, they did create numerous scoring opportunities and were building in confidence after a suspect start. The first twenty minutes of the second half were evenly matched but plagued by bad handling and poor refereeing. On twenty minutes, it was the home team whose discipline let them down and allowed Humberstone the chance to level the scores. Three minutes later Quins were back in front through a converted try. After ten minutes of solid pressure, in which both Humberstone and Appleby scored what looked like tries, but were adjudged to be held up, Stoke were starting to look the better side. 'Stoke were eventually rewarded with a converted try of their own through captain Simon Appleby, to draw the scores level. With 2 minutes left the home side were under pressure with a scrum five metres from their own line. The ball fell loose and Appleby was on hand to pounce and score. Humberstone duly converted and Stoke were in the lead for the first time. The final whistle duly followed and Stoke gained the win. For 60 minutes Stoke did not play with any fluidity or continuity and an honest evaluation would be one of too many mistakes, turn overs, and conceding needless penalties. What did come through was the effort of the last 20 minutes to force the win and to cut down on errors which meant keep ball being played. Humberstone had an excellent game, Russell Northcote did well in the line out and Appleby was on hand for his two tries. Dixon, who was not happy afterwards, added "We did not perform well to-day. We put ourselves under pressure and did not cope at the breakdown in the first half. We could blame the conditions but ultimately we were too loose and some poor decisions did not help. We need to put this game behind us and look to our last two matches for improvement if we are to get any wins" Team: S Humberstone, D Lambert, S Buckland, M Lucas, O Rogers, C Marshall, J Fish, S Lovegrove, A Rowlands (S Murphy), K Townsend, A Hopkins, R Northcote, J Dixon, S Appleby, T Northcote, Subs (not used) R Northcote, C Saunders. |