Stafford Colts entertained Telford Colts in the return league fixture on a mild and windless Sunday afternoon on the AGP, ideal conditions for a game of open running rugby and so it proved.

Stafford stared the game well putting Telford under a lot of pressure and preventing them from getting into the Stafford half. Some heroic defending from Telford kept Stafford from scoring until midway through the half when Archie Bent dove over from short range. This was followed by a second try scored by Connor McCulloch in the far right hand corner after a flowing move involving both forwards and backs. Telford started to come back into the game following a Stafford yellow card for a high tackle but they were unable to convert their numerical advantage into points thanks to some dogged defending from the Stafford Colts. First half finished with Stafford leading 10 – 0.

The second half was a more even match in the early stages with Stafford having to defend hard after giving up a succession of penalties at the breakdown. However, once Stafford were able to regain their discipline they started to establish field dominance once again and this resulted in a second try from Connor McCulloch and a first of the season for Captain Harry Phillips to secure the try bonus point, both ties were converted by Connor. The fifth and final try of the match was scored by Dan Poultney following a multi-phase passage of play which resulted in Dan diving over in the right hand corner. Telford continued to fight hard despite being way behind on the score board but some superb defending from man of the match Dan Cleaver, Harry Phillips, Gurman Seehra and Alfie O’Brien kept them scoreless. The match ended with a score of 29 – 0 to Stafford.

It was a game that Stafford never looked like losing but Telford put them under some sever pressure at times especially through their big forwards. There was some excellent goal line defending and turnovers close to the Stafford line and when the Stafford Colts attacked Telford there was more structure to their play with the backs especially carrying the ball hard and running from deep. Overall it was a very good performance from Stafford but they did give away too many penalties at the breakdown which is something they should learn from coming into the final two league fixtures before Christmas.

Well done lads keep it up and see you at training in the week.

Mark