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Good start to the New Year! Reading Abbey 15 pts v Basingstoke 28pts at Reading 7th January 2006
BASINGSTOKE managed to dog out a superb victory over forward orientated Reading Abbey on Saturday. Despite a lack of firsthalf urgency, Stoke managed to escape relatively unpunished and, in the second half, they came back from many a daunting position to maintain their SouthWest one promotion chase. The game started slowly, with no advantage being gained by either side. Then, in the seventh minute ’Stoke playercoach Jim Dixon broke from the halfway line before offloading to Ross Stirling, who fed skipper Simon Appleby to apply the finishing touch. The game remained evenly balanced until Reading’s ill-discipline afforded a penalty which saw Simon Humberstone rectify his conversion miss with a 40yard kick. More ill-discipline, this time from ’Stoke, saw Reading pull back with a penalty after 21 minutes. After an even 15 minutes, ’Stoke produced an overlap on the left wing. Dave Lambert and Ollie Rogers took full advantage of the opportunity and gained valuable ground before offloading to Dixon who, using his immense strength, broke the last line of defence to score. Humberstone added the two points to take his team into a 15-3 lead. ’Stoke then allowed their opponents back into the game, conceding a score before halftime. Reading’s outsidecentre scored on the far touchline after domination from their forwards took them within striking distance. The ball was spread wide and a simple overlap was scored. The full back converted a tricky kick to ensure a 10-15 halftime score. The second half started as badly as the first ended as, after just a minute’s play, Reading levelled with a try. ’Stoke recognised the warning sign and hit back with a well worked try following an excellent buildup, with 10 phases of play being put together. The ball was then spread wide to Rogers, who sidestepped his opposite man in the smallest of spaces to score on the touchline on 47 minutes. Humberstone added a great conversion to regain a sevenpoint lead and, from this point on, ’Stoke took control of the game, creating chances but they were unable to convert them. Eventually, the pressure told and ’Stoke delivered two killer blows in the space of three minutes – Humberstone kicking penalties on 71 and 74 minutes. Although Reading finished the game on the offensive, ’Stoke held firm and came away knowing they were one of only two teams this season to have won there. Dixon said afterwards: "We had to dig deep on many occasions, but the commitment was firstclass. "We all showed great character, particularly in the second half, and this win really sets up the second half of our season nicely. We are still on the heels of the sides above, and we still have it all to play for." ’Stoke: Dave Lambert; Carl Saunders, Simon Buckland, Carl Marshall, Ollie Rogers; Simon Humberstone, Jamie Fish; Shane Murphy, Mark Bushnell, Kym Townsend (rep Mark Rushworth), Ross Stirling, Russell Northcote, Chris Williams, Simon Appleby, Jim Dixon. Not used: Adie Hopkins, Matt Lucas. |