Stafford travelled across the County line for a familiar fixture with long time opponents Shrewsbury. The hosts were steering their way steadily through the season with five wins and nine losses helping to maintain a decent league position. The match was the rearranged fixture which had been disrupted by the weather earlier in the season.

The first part of the game stuttered along to the referee’s whistle, which echoed around the park, as he pulled each side up for infringements. As the game settled a confident Shrewsbury crashed their way around the pitch and soon took the first try of the afternoon. The hosts were playing some good rugby and created more scoring opportunities but last-minute decisions squandered what look liked certain tries. An injury to Kayden Robinson saw Stafford having to call on their bench early on. But then the Blackberry Lane XV started running and some decent handling tore open the defence. A strong carry from Alex Rock was finished off by Cooper Purvis who powered across for a try. The Shrewsbury response was immediate and camped within sight of the Stafford line a cheeky kick through took the next try. With a player undergoing treatment on the pitch, Stafford followed the official’s instruction and restarted with fourteen participants. Shrewsbury ate up the advantage before the referees whistle halted proceedings due to the player still being treated. Despite the hard work of the physio, Charlie Collier was the latest to come off injured, leaving the visitors with one on the bench. A fumble by the Blackberry Lane XV created some loose ball and Shrewsbury swarmed through for their third of the afternoon. As the ball flew wide of the posts, both touch judges indicated a missed conversion but the referees arm went up to indicate the additional two points. Shrewsbury closed the half with their bonus point try. Stafford went into half time trailing 26 -5 against a very composed period of rugby by the clinical hosts.

The second half started fairly chaotically, the Shrewsbury restart didn’t make 5 metres and both sides competed to create a series of handling errors. An injury to Rob Jones left the Stafford bench bare and the patched up XV on the pitch shuffling starting positions. A collision between two visiting players added to the carnage and after play resumed it soon ground to a halt again as Henry Perks had to be helped off injured. Charlie Collier re-entered the fray to keep it at XV aside and players shifted around to accommodate the revised team. This appeared to fire up a besieged Stafford who started to make massive inroads across the opposition territory. A charge by Jerry Qasenivalu ripped apart the defence and a flying Cooper Purvis raced off for a second try of the afternoon, converted by Henry Ralphs. The Stafford scrum was starting to cause havoc, marching the Salopians backwards and earning a succession of penalties. But with fifteen minutes to go, another loose ball was pounced on and Shrewsbury poached another try. Tired bodies couldn’t keep making the relentless tackles and this allowed enough room for the home side to take their last try of the game. Stafford weren’t done and put all of their heart on display as they went looking for another score. Desperate defence led to the first yellow card of the day and Shrewsbury were down to fourteen for the remainder of the game. The visiting scrum continued to be immense and Shrewsbury couldn’t find any response. With the try line in sight, the whole team surged forward to smash through the defenders. It finally took a whirling Charlie Collier to spin through the grasping hands and touch down for the final try of the afternoon.

Next 1st XV Match: Saturday 1st February vs Veseyans 1st XV, Home. K.O. 14:15.