STAFFORD 1ST XV vs TELFORD 1ST XV. 21ST OCTOBER 2017. LEAGUE MATCH.

Stafford 0 – 14 Telford

Stafford welcomed Telford to the County Ground for the latest fixture in the league. The remnants of Storm Brian saw a swirling wind and intermittent showers of rain providing difficult playing conditions for both teams. Stafford took to the field in their second strip of red & black, allowing the visitors to don their traditional black and gold.

Stafford started brightly with attacking play earning them an early penalty, the swirling wind just pushing the ball away from the posts. The momentum continued to build with a scything move splitting the Telford defence to release a flying Ollie Greensill. The Stafford player bounced through opposition and with an unobstructed path to the line the sound of the referees whistle bought play back to deny the try. The visitors found their rhythm and spent the rest of the half camped deep in Stafford territory, their attack being contained by a fiery defence to produce an exhausting stalemate. Two penalty opportunities could have put points on the board for Telford, but the wind hampered both attempts. Stafford went into half time drawing 0 – 0 battling an attacking opposition and testing weather conditions.

The second half saw Stafford playing into the wind as Telford set up an early attacking line in opposition territory. Another long period of defence saw the home side fighting valiantly but eventually the visitors created an overlap for the first try of the afternoon with an excellent conversion taken from a difficult angle. In response Stafford started to find some success with their attack and when Telford were reduced to fourteen on the pitch through a yellow card the momentum started to change. The attack changed hands as both teams battled to find the advantage, but an attempted Stafford chip saw the wind snatch the ball straight into the hands of the opposition who barrelled across the line for their second converted try of the afternoon. A second yellow card disrupted the Telford XV as a final ferocious five minutes saw Stafford throwing everything at the opposition defence, but they couldn’t find a way through in an exhausting game.