Stafford 21 – 3 Shrewsbury
Stafford development team welcomed Shrewsbury to the County Ground for the fourth league match of the season. The weather had played its part in making a soggy, slippery surface for an autumn encounter.
Stafford took control of the game from the opening whistle and set up camp in the Shrewsbury half. The home side tried to capitalise on the pressure and got close to the line on a few occasions, but came away empty handed due to last minute minor mistakes. It took until the second quarter for the Stafford attack to break through, Pete White smashing through the Shrewsbury defence and crossing the line, but the referee deemed the ball held up. Stafford were awarded the ensuing scrum, the mighty power of the pack proving too strong for Shrewsbury as Rich Whatling controlled the ball for a pushover try, Tim Woolman adding the conversion. In response Shrewsbury mounted an attack of their own to earn a penalty and put points on the board for the visitors. Stafford went into half time leading 7 – 3, but having dominated the majority of the game.
The second half saw Stafford back in control but the game started to get messy due to the weather conditions. The deadlock was broken when an excellent run by James Riley broke through the Shrewsbury defence, stepping past the full back to run under the post for the second try of the afternoon, Tim Woolman adding the conversion. Shrewsbury continued to battle and tried to get back into the game by moving the ball around the pitch. The ever alert Pete White snatched a pass out of the air to intercept the ball and raced off to score Stafford's third try, Tim Woolman adding the final points of the afternoon through a conversion.