STAFFORD “A” vs TAMWORTH 2ND XV. 16TH NOVEMBER 2019. LEAGUE MATCH.

Stafford “A” travelled to Wigginton Lodge for an encounter against top of the table Tamworth 2nd XV. The East Staffordshire side were having a solid season with an unbeaten run five wins out of five. But they were entertaining Stafford “A” who travelled with an unbeaten four wins out of four underpinned by an impressive 175 points.

The first half was a close encounter with both teams defending strongly in their respective 22's for long periods. Each side had their opportunities breaking out of their own half and turning defence into attack. The half looked to be dwindling into an exhausting draw. But just before the half time whistle, Stafford found a way to penetrate the Tamworth defence with a break from Ben Burrows allowing Jack Harvey to slide over in the corner to take the first points of the game. Unfortunately, the half time whistle also marked the end of the match for skipper, Angus Lennon, who came off with an injury. Stafford went into half time leading 0-5 in a very tight game.

Stafford started the second half with continued momentum resulting in a Rich Martin try early in the half. Tamworth responded immediately and following a period of sustained pressure took their first try of the afternoon. In an end to end game it was Stafford’s turn to exert the pressure with some exquisite handling letting Rhys Williams race through for Stafford's third try, with Lewis Cantrill converting. For the next 10 minutes the game was at a stalemate, with the slippery conditions forcing handling errors and both teams being penalised for offences at the breakdown. Finally, after some powerful attacking rugby from the Tamworth forwards, the home side crashed over for their second try of the game. Unfortunately, whilst defending against the Tamworth barrage, Stafford's blind side flanker Anthony Brogan sustained a head injury. With no other substitutes, Stafford's manager (David Wareham) borrowed some kit and entered the match. Stafford maintained pressure on the opposition and after a clever off-load from Jay Shelton-Davidson, David Wareham burst through a self-made gap, having handed off the opposition prop, to score under the posts. Lewis Cantrill completing his second conversion of the day. With 9 minutes of the match remaining, Tamworth threw everything they had at Stafford and it took 6 minutes to eventually breach the tenacious Stafford Defence. Fortunately, that was the final score of the day. With Stafford in control, the seconds counted down until the final whistle was blown. Stafford the victors 19-24.