STAFFORD 1st XV vs HARBORNE 1st XV. 19th DECEMBER 2015.

Stafford 31 – 10 Harborne

Stafford welcomed Harborne to the County Ground for the final league game of 2015. The Birmingham side came to Staffordshire looking for their first win of a long season but with the reputation of playing tough uncompromising rugby.

Stafford opened the scoring within the first few minutes of the game, a scrum taken against the head set the platform for some slick passing and Dave Freeman crossed the line in the corner for the try. The visitors fought their way into the game on the back of the home side defence incurring the wrath of the referee, a series of penalties took Harborne up the pitch and with the posts in range they slotted the ball to put points on the board. The visitors could have gone into the lead through a further penalty which agonisingly bounced off the crossbar, but the defence couldn’t stop an increasingly confident Harborne from crashing across the line for a converted try and the lead. Following a motivational team talk from the captain, Stafford settled back to play simple rugby which tested the visitors and a series of probing attacks culminated in Dave Freeman finding the room to cross the line for the second of the afternoon. The home side began to find their rhythm in what had been a tight game and persistent pressure saw a heap of bodies driving across the line with a grinning Dave Wareham at the bottom for Staffords third of the afternoon, Rich Martin adding the conversion. Stafford went into half time leading 17 – 10 but being tested by a tenacious Harborne performance.

Stafford flew into the second half with aggressive attacking rugby but Harborne responded with an equally dogged defence. The game entered a slight deadlock, but Stafford again started to find some success with playing simple rugby. A solid scrum provided the platform for a bruising Gaz Philips charge which ripped open the defence with the ball finding its way to an elusive Rich Martin for the first converted try of the half and the bonus point. A yellow card could have halted the home side momentum when they were reduced to fourteen, but a subsequent Harborne yellow assisted making the numbers equal. With both sides reduced to fourteen, Stafford turned up the heat and as the visitors tried to react a savage charge saw the forwards crossing the line with Carl Williams hands tightly on the ball, Rich Martin taking the conversion. With around five minutes left to play a clash of players left Dean Ainger stretched out on the pitch and an ambulance had to be called. The referee consulted with both captains and with the result of the game already decided, blew for full time.