Stafford colts played a friendly fixture away to Uttoxeter on a wet and blustery Sunday afternoon.

Stafford started the game well and using the blustery conditions to their advantage and were able to put Uttoxeter under sustained periods of pressure. The first Stafford try came from a superbly executed lineout close to the Uttoxeter line where Ollie Downie caught the ball and Bed Dodd was able to force his way over from the subsequent maul. Uttoxeter then started to come back into the game with some good running attacks of their own but the Stafford defense was good and they were able to keep the opposition away from their 22 meter line. As the first half drew to a close a series of Uttoxeter infringements saw Stafford march down the pitch close to the Uttoxeter try line. Rather than go for the lineout and drive Stafford chose to try one of their penalty moves which resulted in Harrison Durham crashing over the line close to the Uttoxeter posts. James Milan added the conversion and the first half finished with a score line of 0 – 12 to Stafford.

The second half was much more even with both sides defending well and making the odd handling error due to the muddy pitch. Uttoxeter scored their first try from a penalty awarded when Stafford were caught offside from a goal line dropout under their own posts. From the subsequent re-start Stafford allowed Uttoxeter to run three quarters of the pitch virtually untouched and all of a sudden Uttoxeter where ahead in the game 14 – 12. After that crazy couple of minutes Stafford re-gathered themselves and went back to basics with their tight driving game which put increasing pressure on the Uttoxeter defense. Following a number of penalties close to the Uttoxeter line James Milan took a quick tap and was able to force his way over for a try to re-stablish the Stafford lead. The fourth Stafford try came from a break in the middle of the park and saw Ben Dodd off load the ball in the tackle to winger Owen Smith who jinked his way past several defenders and scored a fantastic try in the right hand corner. With the final play of the game Uttoxeter scored a converted try but it was too late and Stafford had won the game 21 – 22.

The final score suggests that this was a very close game but in reality Stafford made hard work of the win and did not convert the chances that their periods of dominance offered. The win also came at a price with injuries to Alfie O’Brian, Harrison Durham and Dan Poultney. There were also Strong performances by Spencer Latham, Gurman Seehra and man of the match Ben Dodd.

Next time out Stafford face Newcastle colts in a Friday night fixture under the lights on the AGP where hopefully they can continue their winning ways.

Mark