STAFFORD DEVELOPMENT vs. SHREWSBURY 2ND XV. 10th January 2014.

Stafford 13 – 17 Shrewsbury

Stafford development team started the new year with a chance to put pressure over the top two teams in the league with a win against Shrewsbury. The development team fielded a strong team against a very much changed Shrewsbury side.

The game started with missed tackles and poor communication in defence by Stafford gifting the visitors two tries within the first ten minutes. Stafford then started to play and dominated most of the territory, allowing the team to get into some good positions. Pressure lead to the home side turning over the ball, Mark Bissett kicking down the pitch and good footballing skills by Mitch Averis creating the space for the first Stafford try of the afternoon. The Stafford dominance continued to grow and a quick tap penalty released birthday boy Gaz Phillips to ship the ball through to Chris Ward for the second try of the afternoon, unfortunately the referees whistle denied the score for a forward pass. Stafford went into the break trailing by 5 – 12, but having played some exciting rugby.

Mark Bissett opened the second half with a penalty for Stafford as the home side continued to pile on the pressure. The game then changed as a double yellow reduced both teams to 14 players and Stafford incurred the wrath of the referee to be temporarily reduced to 13. The home side held their own but a six man scrum couldn’t hold Shrewsbury, who took full advantage for their third try of the afternoon. With Stafford back up to full strength they reasserted the pressure on the visitors allowing Gaz Phillips to crash over in the corner in celebration of his birthday. As time ran down Stafford couldn’t quite catch the early lead which had been established by the visitors.