Stafford Colts A played a friendly Friday night match against local rivals Newport Colts A under the lights.

Stafford started the game well with the forwards carrying hard and putting the Newport side under pressure. A penalty in the Newport half resulted in a Stafford lineout on the 5m line and from the resulting driving maul Charlie Kirby touched down for the opening score. Newport then started to come back into the match and it was a fairly even contest with neither side being able to maintain a dominant position for any length of time. Newport were awarded a penalty in the Stafford 22 and took a quick tap, they passed the ball wide and got around the Stafford defence and scored in the right hand corner. The difficult conversion was also taken. Stafford were forced to make changes in the backline when scrum half Aiden Barker left the field due to feeling unwell and No. 10 Henry Ralphs went down with a knee injury. However, with time running out Stafford took a quick tap penalty and debutante Archie Paul forced his way over for the try. Misa Veramu added the conversion. First half finished with Stafford leading 12 – 7.

During half time Seb Conaghan, who was spectating, manged to borrow some oversized boots and kit to fill in for Aiden at scrum half. The second half started much the same as the first with Stafford scoring from a 5m lineout and a driving maul, Archie Paul this time touching down for his second score of the night. Then it was like Newport woke up and Stafford forgot to make tackles. The Newport backs and loose forwards got round the outside of Stafford and scored 3 unanswered tries, two of which were converted. With Stafford now looking to chase the game Gurman Seehra came to the fore with some dynamic carries into the Newport backfield, he eventually got his reward by forcing his way over for a try from close range, Seb Conaghan missed the conversion but hit the upright once again! With time in the red Stafford were awarded a succession of penalties in the Newport 22 but instead of kicking for the corner and using the dominance of the lineout and driving maul they chose to tap and go. After several failed attempts to score and refusing the better lineout option the ball was spilled forward and the final whistle blew. Much to the frustration of the players and coaches Stafford lost the game 22 – 26.

In the end it was a frustrating evening for the Stafford Colts A side. They dominated possession for long periods but failed to make the most of their scoring opportunities. Poor decision making close to the Newport line and individual errors cost Stafford the match but hopefully lesson will be learned and those mistakes won’t be repeated in the games coming in the new year. On the positive side Archie Paul scored two tries on his debut, Gurman Seehra showed what a strong player he is and what the team have missed in the early part of the season, Ollie Croft had his best game going forward in the centres and Misa Veramu played several positions in the backline all with assured calm and good skills.
The Christmas period approaches and the players will get a chance to re-charge their batteries, get over any bumps and knocks and return re-energised in the New Year.

Well done and see you all at training
Mark