STAFFORD DEVELOPMENT XV vs GNOSALL 1ST XV. 18TH NOVEMBER 2017. FRIENDLY MATCH.

Stafford 29 – 14 Gnosall

Stafford welcomed Gnosall to Castle Fields for a friendly match as the league fixtures took a rest weekend. The Herons travelled with back to back wins under their belts. The Stafford XV fielded its usual mixture of developing players blended with other established senior players to give a potent XV who had taken three wins out of four in the league.

Unfortunately, Gnosall couldn’t field an established front row, making the scrums immediately uncontested and removing a potent attacking option for both teams. A fluid Stafford attack opened the fixture, ripping through the defence for Brett Corcoran to cross the line, but the referees whistle denied the try as play was called back. Gnosall started to defend strongly but couldn’t stop the might of Kevin Bunter from smashing across the line for the first try of the afternoon, converted by the ever-steady boot of Chris Newell. Stafford continued to dominate possession with a whirling Olly Leigh bouncing through defenders to stretch across the line but the sound of the referee’s whistle pulled play back, denying the try. Gnosall were scrapping for possession and a great interception saw the Herons running in from the half way line to score the equalising try to tie the scores. With their tails up the visitors built on the momentum to take their second try of the afternoon and the lead. A swarming Stafford response lead to a brutal surge as the forwards battered their way down the field for Kevin Bunter to crash across the line for his second try of the afternoon. Stafford went into half time trailing 12 – 14 but having had the better of possession and territory.

With the half time team talk over the Stafford XV unleashed an opening barrage which immediately pinned the visitors on their own try line. Gnosall repelled several attacks but ran out of defenders to stop a powerful drive from Tom Berry scoring a try to retake the lead. In a confusing series of events Stafford delayed the conversion kick whilst a Gnosall player was receiving treatment on the pitch in front of the posts, but a shrill blast from the whistle signalled that the home side had ran out of time for the kick. A solid performance by the visitors was starting to take its toll as the Gnosall XV response started to slow on weary legs. A brutal run by Tom Windibank took the next try as the returning player went through several defenders for the score. The final try of the afternoon went to last season Gnosall player Shaun Bickley who was too strong for his former team mates, converted by Christian Ureche to end the afternoon.