Stafford 43 Vs Willenwood 17

Friday night under lights was back and this time it was a visit from the combined Willenhall/Burntwood Colts.
With a Stafford team involving players returning from injury, others making debuts and a back line full of wingers. The pregame message was simple, play for each other, keep it simple and enjoy it.
Stafford tried to go short from kick off and Tom took it cleanly only for the ball to be a yard short and the visitors to get a scrum at halfway, the Ref set his stall out early and penalised the front row. With the chance to make ground the visitors kicked for touch, the ball was short and taken well by Rory, the winger took the chance to get Stafford on the front foot. This momentum was continued by Jonah and Mason who made some quick yards, this opened the field up for Finn coming in from the centres and on his shoulder was captain Ethan who blasted through a couple of tackles to open the scoring (7-0 Harry W conv).
Willenwood restarted with a good high restart that was contested and knocked on by the hosts but following another penalty in the scrum, Willenwood looked to keep the pressure on, however ball was kicked through and marshalled out by Fraser so Stafford could clear their lines.
The visitors were hitting up through the centres at pace and only good defence from Danny, Harry W, Tom and Will kept the hosts out. Eventually following a couple of penalties the visitors would get a try back (7-5).
The game was opening up and being played at a real pace, Stafford played out from the back and Marley made a break from inside the 22. His leg drive and power took the ball towards halfway, dragging a couple of players with him. Mason picked up, dummied, and popped to Ed Austin who made a great outside break deep into the opposite 22. Logan made a half break and was almost over, George cleared out and the backs went hands at pace with the ball going the width of the pitch and Rory scored in the corner. It was a great team try. (12-5 missed conv)
Again the visitors were competing at the restart but Stafford did enough to keep possession. At a ruck in Midfield, the ball went open to Harry W who realising that the backs were short, cut back to the blindside and fed Marley who simply set his player and fed Finn who took the ball at pace and sprinted through to score. (17-5 missed conv)
The visitors were still in the game and after a period of pressure, Marley would get the first yellow card of the night for a high tackle. Despite the significant efforts in defence, the pressure would tell and Willenwood scored a second try to get within 7. (17-10)
With a player down Stafford were still aiming to play open rugby and Ethan was leading the charge. After a lineout following a penalty, Ethan supported by Jonah crashed the ball up with good support from the other forwards, the ball was quickly recycled and the ball found its way to Fraser who almost made it over. The forwards were patient and eventually the gap was there for Mason to not only get over but to scamper round to near the posts (24-10 Harry W conv).
At halftime, the message was simple, keep doing what you are doing and more tries willl come.
From kick off Jonah took the ball clean and the forwards through Jack, Mason and Ethan again made great ground keeping the opposition on the back foot only for a ruck to be stolen and the ball cleared, Finn took the ball clean and it looked as if Stafford would go through, only for the game to be stopped due to an injury.
The game was restarted with a scrum and Ethan made a good decision by picking and going open rather than blind, he offloaded to Harry W in support who cut back in and scored despite the attempts of the covering fullback, (31-10 Harry W conv)
Willenwood at the restart went longer than before and Joe (on debut) took the ball clean, he went wide and danced around a couple of defenders only for a high tackle to take him down and the ref had no choice but to show another yellow card.
Despite the yellow the visitors got on the front foot and looked to be in a scoring position but good tackles by Owen and Harry W kept the visitors out.
Following a scrum and another great break from Joe, Stafford would find themselves camped in the opposition 22, and big tackles from Harry C and Logan C would see the home team keep the pressure on the visitors and the ball in the opposition half. The ball would eventually get turned over and Logan B came close to scoring. After some short hits the ball would be moved out and eventually the try was scored by Marley after Joe again fed the simple ball. (36-10 missed conv)
Willenwood went long and Stafford would find themselves 5 metres from their own line. Again, Stafford looked to clear as they had done in the first half, but rather than it being a hit up and then kicked clear, Marley powered through a couple of tackles and went from 5 metres out to 15 metres into the opposition half, he offloaded to the supporting Rory only for the pass to be ruled forward, it was a great effort from both players.
At the scrum some great tackles by Dylan and Logan C kept Stafford in a good position, eventually the ball would be turned over, Will and Joe again made yards and after a penalty in the 22, Dylan went quick and fed Ethan who stepped and powered over for his second try, (43-10 Harry W conv).
Credit to the visitors who were still trying to get scores, another good kickoff and chase saw them get on the front foot, Stafford were back down to 14 after Logan B was yellow carded for a high tackle , with the line being threatened some fantastic defence by Rory, Joe , George, Owen and Carter would see the ball eventually held up over the line by a combination of Harry W and Mason.
At the restart Willenwood continued to attack the line and big tackles by Will, Ed and Jack again would thwart the visitors. After a couple of penalties Logan C would also receive a yellow card and the 13 would again try to prevent a final score, despite the tackles from Carter and Finn G, the visitors would finish the evenings scoring with a well deserved try. (43-17).
This was a great team performance, considering the team had 3 hookers and 7 wingers in the squad, it was pleasing to see players take on and fill in positions that they weren’t used to, Danny and Harry C in the back row, Rory and Marley in the centres, everyone stuck to their task and worked for each other. Even Jake commented after how well we played (praise indeed).
So, we move on to Shrewsbury on Sunday and some players from tonight will play again, for those not involved am sure it will be a rest and recover day as they certainly put in a shift tonight.