Stafford resumed their season after a prolonged break which had seen the last 1st XV game way back on December 11th 2021. Their first opposition of the new year was a travelling Newcastle who were having a difficult season with only two wins out of the ten matches played. Blackberry Lane was already buzzing with rugby as the Bulldogs were engaged against a feisty Willenhall 2nd XV and St Leonards were entertaining Cannock. Led out onto the pitch with the refrains of “thunderstruck”, the 1st XV resumed the league campaign.

Stafford came barrelling into the encounter fizzing with the energy stored up during the enforced break. Early pressure forced the visitors into a hastily arranged defence which tried to absorb the initial momentum. The Stafford forwards made a couple of exploratory forays before Quade Boal took control, stepping past a couple of desperate tackles to score the first try of the afternoon, converted by Christian Stelian. The Newcastle restart couldn’t contain the surging Stafford response and the completion of a few phases saw the visitors having to defend deeply. The forwards and backs combined lethally to produce scything attacks which wrong footed the defence before a prowling Quade Boal brushed off players to take the second try of the game converted by Christian Stelian. With ten minutes gone on the clock, the visitors settled slightly and a penalty ate up territory to give a good platform for an attacking response. The home side created a tenacious line which managed to strangle the life out of the forward momentum and an eventual stolen ball released the counter. Slick hands saw Nick Oxley tearing down the pitch spreading panic through the retreating defence until the last man bought him crashing down within sight of the line. The ball was scooped up and Jerry Qasenivalu set off on a run which left bodies strewn across the pitch before he claimed the third try of the afternoon, converted by Christian Stelian. Newcastle started to play some effective attacking rugby, Stafford stubbornly gave ground but wave after wave of attacks eventually earned the visitors a deserved converted try to put some tired points on the board. The riposte from Stafford was devastating and Newcastle were forced to put in a long defensive shift to repel the attacks raining down on them. The visitors looked to have weathered the worst of the storm before a punishing run by Christian Stelian took the bonus point try, which he then converted to extend the lead. Stafford went into half time with an impressive 28-7 lead and a strong grip on the game.

The Newcastle team talk instilled new fire into the visitors and two quick tries in the opening parts of the second half closed the deficit to just eleven points. A penalty opportunity gave Stafford a chance at three points and Christian Stelian stepped up to add to the afternoons haul. But Newcastle had their tails up and some ferocious hard work eventually earned the visitors the try bonus point and the game was suddenly finely balanced with only a nine-point difference. With twenty minutes left on the clock, Stafford regathered and the subs bench gave some respite to hard working county town legs. A short period saw the teams locked in a deadlock struggle around the middle of the pitch. It was the home side who broke out and bludgeoned their way through the visitors to within sight of the opposition line. A couple of surges bought came close, before the forwards drove Dan Watts across for a try, converted by Christian Stelian. This took the wind out of the Newcastle sails as they looked for a response against an ever-growing lead. Stafford had found their second wind and started to claw territory from all parts of the pitch. A subsequent blistering attack ran over the visitors with captain Louis Dewsbury pinning his ears back to tear down half the length of the pitch for the sixth home side try of the afternoon. As the clock moved into the final five minutes a tired Newcastle wouldn’t stop working. Nick Oxley took the next try as he burst through the middle of the opposition and touched down by the posts. With barely a minute left in the game, Nick Oxley continued to menace the defence, taking the final try to round off an excellent afternoon of rugby.

Next 1st XV Match; Saturday 22nd January Away vs Uttoxeter; 2.15pm kick off.