Stafford Colts traveled to Droitwich to play their re-arranged league fixture on a blustery but bright Sunday afternoon but on a muddy but playable first team pitch.

Stafford, playing with the wind in the first half and started the game well with the forwards carrying hard and Seb Conaghan kicking the ball well and keeping the opposition in their own half. Stafford’s first try came when Seb kicked to the corner from a midfield penalty, Oliver Downe won the lineout but the driving maul broke down so the ball was passed quickly into midfield and Ollie Croft crashed over in the centres under the posts. Seb added the simple conversion. Droitwich were struggling to get into the game with Stafford applying constant pressure in the opposition half. Droitwich conceded an penalty Infront of the posts and quick thinking scrum-half Archie Bent took a quick tap and nearly got to the line but popped it off to number 8 Charlie Kirby who dived over to finish the try off. Seb Added the simple conversion. Droitwich then started to come back into the game but were unable to fashion a scoring chance due to some last ditch defending from Stafford. Half time came with a score line of 0 – 14 to Stafford but there was a feeling that Stafford should have scored a few more points during the first half.

Second half started with Stafford now playing into the breeze and into the low sun which made attacking and applying pressure difficult. Several times Stafford got within 5 yards of the Droitwich line but gave the ball away or conceded penalties for holding on. Stafford had a try disallowed when Archie Bent kicked a loose ball through into the Droitwich in-goal area and got to the ball ahead of the defender but the referee judged that the defender got there first. After that things started to unravel for Stafford. After failing to capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities and pressure in the Droitwich half the opposition started to put pressure on the Stafford line. Several times Stafford held up the Droitwich attacker on the line but the clearing goal line drop kicks were not going far enough to relieve the pressure. Eventually the Stafford defense was breached and after 27 minutes Droitwich scored their first converted try through the forwards.

Droitwich now had their tails up and came roaring back at Stafford to try and get the score equaling try. Stafford started to panic in defense and rather than clearing their lines tried running out from their own try line and chip kicking over the Droitwich side inside their own 22. The Droitwich forwards gathered the loose ball and drove over the Stafford line for the game equaling converted try. With time running out and Droitwich pressing for the win Stafford turned the ball over on their own try line and had the chance to clear the ball to touch however the kick did not make the side line and Droitwich gathered the ball and dove over in the corner for the winning try. That was the final play of the game and Droitwich had won the game 19 – 14

It was a game that the Stafford side should not have lost and should have put to bed in the first half. However, missed opportunities, numerous penalties conceded for holding on and a lack of control at the end of the game eventually cost Stafford the match. There is much to learn from this game especially in the second half performance. Stafford were clinical in the first 20 minutes of the first half and then started to get sloppy and missed numerous opportunities to score. Second half they were in the game but then conceded territory to Droitwich who grew in confidence when Stafford did not keep them away from the red zone. Lots of things to think about and work on in training.

Next up is a home league game against Bromsgrove who gave us a tough game at their place at the start of the season so it will be another test for the Stafford Colts side.

Mark