The first Cup fixture of the season for Stafford saw them host a dominant Lichfield side, boasting an
impressive record throughout the year. Knowing the strong side they were to face, Stafford rallied
together to confront what they knew would be the biggest challenge as a team to date.
As the sun began to shine on Blackberry Lane, Stafford started their game leaning heavily towards a
forwards based, physical brand of rugby to combat the wide attacking threats of their opposition.
With neither team able to win the apparent arm wrestle for dominance in the first 5 minutes, after a
few turnovers and subsequent kicks for touch by Connor McCulloch, Stafford found themselves
around Lichfield's 22. Through a driving mall in front of the stands, and a bombardment of their
short and bruising rugby style Stafford drove themselves to within 5 meters of the white line. After
receiving a yellow card for repeated infringement, Lichfield seemed to be on the back foot as Tom
Kirby took advantage of a short-range penalty to drive over the line to the left of the posts, his score
being calmly converted by Connor and leaving the scoreboard reading 7-0 after 15 minutes.
After the try there seemed to be a sense of belief within the boys as everyone played hard for one
another. This newfound mentality led to a suffocating amount of pressure placed onto the Lichfield
team as Stafford once again through penalties and open play clearances found themselves just
inside the opposition 22. A knock on by Stafford created a scrum in the middle of the field, however
throughout the game, Stafford’s pack were in control of the scrums, and this one was no different.
Due to another dominant push, the ball popped out for Dan Poultney to juggle, gather and sprint
under the posts for a second converted try taking the lead to 14-0 in the 19th minute.
Seemingly however, Lichfield began to wake up and demonstrate their class through a well-drilled
and effective attacking structure combined with hard runners and strong support. Stafford soon
found themselves on their own 5m line holding out an onslaught of mauls and strong-willed attacks,
but they managed to survive. Clearing the ball and relieving pressure allowed the boys to reinstate
their physical and oppressive brand of short rugby, preventing Lichfield's backline from getting
involved at all. Once again the penalty count rose as Connor slotted over 3 more points from a
similar position on the left side of the pitch, providing Stafford a little breathing room as they
prepared for halftime. Unfortunately, on the stroke of halftime, the opposition managed to finally
stretch the Stafford defence, eventually caving as a run through the 13 channel by the opposition full
back led to a 50m try which he then converted, followed the half time whistle from the referee.

Hoping to maintain their form and spirit Stafford marched back onto the pitch looking to once again
impose themselves. A similar set of events to the first half ensued with Lichfield's discipline slowly
dropping, Stafford capitalized on field position and stuck to their tried and tested methods.
However, this time they struggled to break down the Lichfield pack with a Tom Kirby effort from
short range being held up, and a Seb Conaghan snipe from right on the line being disallowed.
Nevertheless, the teams plan to play in the right areas of the pitch and prevent opportunities for a
side as strong as their opposition was still in effect.
Despite this, it took a lot of effort to keep them at bay when the opposition inevitably knocked on
the door. Calling for some valiant defence from the whole team resulted in a held-up try and a
chance to get back on track and build a bigger points cushion.
Unfortunately, teams like Lichfield can score from anywhere when given the space, as seen when their
number 7 opened up and ran in an 80m try off a turnover. Luckily the try went unconverted leaving Stafford leading 17-12.
A tense and scrappy series of events followed with Stafford just trying to see out the game, this
uncharacteristic panic led to a charge down and a try by Lichfield that was thankfully called back for
offside. Taking time to regain composure and control as the leaders of the team grew into their roles
Stafford were able to see out the clock and secure the tight 17-12 victory as a roaring crowd cheered
them on to what may well be the biggest result of the season so far.
The success was a result of every player in the squad understanding their role and duty and
executing it to near perfection. They fought for one another and played as a cohesive, smart
unrelenting and, at times, unstoppable unit. However, there were stand out performances from the
likes of Ben Dodd (taking on the captaincy in the second half superbly and leading by example), Tom
Kirby (leading the physical side of the game and always being there when called upon) alongside the
likes of Dan Poultney, Hugo Sutton and Harrison Durham’s formidable defensive efforts. Overall,
every single player should be proud of how they fought and not one player put a foot wrong. You
played the best rugby of the year when it was needed most, believed in each other, yourselves, the
gameplan, and did the club proud.
Let's keep this up – get numbers down to training to continue improving – and get ready for a league
game this Sunday.
I'm immensely proud of you all as you should be of yourselves. Let’s keep this cup run going!
-Archie.