Stafford started the game very well keeping Uttoxeter in their own half and affording them no opportunities in the home sides half. Eventually the pressure told when, after 13 minutes, Stafford stole a Uttoxeter lineout in mid field, and the ball was passed down the backs with some lovely intricate handling and Jack Raine, from the u16’s, finished a wonderful try in the left hand corner. Uttoxeter still could not get into the game and the second Stafford try came when a loose ball was kicked forwards by Will Smith and Jack Raine was on hand to score under the posts, Seb Conaghan adding the simple conversion. Uttoxeter then started to come back into the game but an interception by Seb in the Stafford 22 should have resulted in a third Stafford try but instead the ball was spilled and turned over in midfield. From the resulting scrum Stafford were penalised and Uttoxeter pushed the ball into the corner. Stafford’s defence was not able to hold and with the last play of the half Uttoxeter scored a try which was converted. So rather than Stafford ending the half 19-0 up the half time score was 12 – 7.

The late score in the first half had energised Uttoxeter especially as they had been second best for most of the first 35 minutes and they scored their second converted try after only 4 minutes. Uttoxeter had brought on some of their bigger forwards for the second half and Stafford were struggling to compete with the extra physicality. However, following a period of pressure in the Uttoxeter 22 Seb Conaghan slotted a simple penalty after 13 minutes to push Stafford back in front 15 – 14. The strong running Uttoxeter forwards then got back on top and scored two tries in quick succession, only one of which was converted to give the opposition a 15 - 26 lead going into the final 10 minutes of the game. Then on 31 minutes Stafford were awarded a penalty on the Uttoxeter 5 meter line and Charlie Kirby burst over to score. With time running out and with the big Uttoxeter forwards running out of steam Seb Conaghan launched an attack from inside his own half, his mazy run nearly taking him all the way to the Uttoxeter line but he was unable to find the final pass when he we brough down 10 meters short of the line. Stafford continued to pile on the pressure and were pushing for the winning score when the ball was knocked forwards 5 meters out and the referee blew for the end of the game. Final score 20 – 26 to Uttoxeter.

It was an entertaining game and one which saw some of the u16’s really step up to the increased intensity, speed and physicality of playing Colts rugby. Some good tries were scored and some exciting running was on show. Charlie Kirby continued his excellent run of scoring and Seb Conaghan finally allowed himself to break free of the shackles of playing at fly half. Despite the result it was a good performance from the Stafford side that just took their foot off the gas after half time which allowed the bigger Uttoxeter side back into the game.

Well done boys, keep training hard and you will get the results the performances deserve
Mark