Stafford 45 Vs Luctonians 33

After a great team effort on Friday night, it was time for the league team to step up and continue the hard work and team ethos in front of not only the crowd in attendance but also our new sponsors from Stafford Super Bowl, and didn’t they do just that.
A still, dry afternoon at Blackberry Lane was perfect for running rugby, something that these players enjoy. The visitors also looked to be up for doing the same as the Stafford team had to defend cross kicks from the off. The second of which was directed towards Marley, as he set himself, the opposition winger went up to gather and unfortunatley Marley gathered the player in the air and received a yellow card. Luctonians kicked for the corner and from the lineout drove to the line, despite good intial defence, after a couple of phases, enough space was created for the forwards to get over the line and open the scoring. (0-5)
The next 7 mins, while down to 14, Stafford defended well and forced the visitors to continue their kicking game. The home team would see out the 7 mins well and were well positioned to push on with the full contingent of players. After good carries from Finn, Cayden and Ethan the ball would eventually be set within the Luctonians 22. Jack stepped two players moving back inside and from the recycle, Ethan again carried, a further recycle and Morgan would get on the score sheet to even the score. (5-5 missed conv )
The visitors were undeterred and went hard and fast down the pitch with their bigger players making good ground, eventually they would be held up by Dylan S when a try looked to have been scored. The defence continued with Logan, Marley and Jake all tackling well to spurn the follow up attack.
Eventually Stafford would disrupt a Luctonians lineout, Farai made a great break and the ball was recycled left, Ellis and Fred combined to continue the push forward and from the recycle, Farai again carried and made a second break. As the defence tried to contain the quick recycles, Dylan S saw a gap, made the half break, fed Jack and the fly half finished the move off for a great team try. (12-5 Dylan S conv)
Luctonians would go long at the restart and although Stafford dealt initially with it well, they tried to run wide when they could have relieved the pressure, instead the ball was turned over by the visitors and despite great tackles by Cayden and George, eventually a try was scored to pull the game all square. (12-12)
It was a riveting first half with both teams looking to use the width of the pitch. Stafford were loose at a lineout but George was in the right place to tidy things up and carried well. The ball went out to Ellis who continued the go forward and as Stafford recycled quickly, Ethan again hit a tight line before Cayden did the same , this time powering through a handful of defenders to retake the lead. (19-12 Dylan S conv)
That was halftime and a breathless first half saw Stafford in the lead but both teams were in the match and it just needed one of them to take it by the scruff of the neck and push on.
The match restarted with a number of changes as Dylan S moved to the 10 position and Jack moved to inside centre, the game plan however stayed the same. Dylan made an early break from his own half but despite making it to halfway a penalty was conceeded. Luctonians kicked towards the corner and from the lineout, peeled, set and tipped their way over the line to even the scores up yet again (19-19)
The restart was high and hanging and Stafford challenged well, unfortunately players were caught offside shortly after and as they had done all afternoon, Luctonians kicked long and made touch. Stafford were on the back foot and despite gaining a scrum after some good defence, a miscommunication led to a loose ball and from the pressure the visitors would score to take the lead in this topsy-turvy affair. (19-26)
Dylan S restarted with a high kick and Jack would get up well to win the ball. The loose ball was well cleaned up and after a couple of phases Stafford were awarded a penalty. They also kicked deep into the 22 for a good line out position. The lineout was taken cleanly and after a couple of phases the reward was a further penalty. Dylan tapped quickly and the Stafford hands moved the ball out to Ethan who played Ellis into space and the centre would scamper in despite the efforts of the visiting defence to bring the scores level (26-26 Dylan S conv)
The home team looked good on the front foot and following the restart Ed Austin did well to carry the ball forward. Jack went wide and having stepped well, passed out to Leon who accelerated and showed good ball handling to dummy his way to halfway, the ball was quick and Jack again broke the line, this time the centre was supported well by Dylan S who was set away to canter in, adding a further 2pts to his try. (33-26).
Neither team were able to pull away, and despite Luctonians going long and looking to turn over the ball in a good position, Jake did well to disrupt and Oli in at prop went blind, sat down the winger and carried away from the Stafford line, Jack made yet another break ably assisted by Leon who continued and kept the ball alive, the field was broken and after good hands the gap would open up for Ethan to power through and make this a two score game. (40-26 Dylan S conv)
Stafford were going well out wide and in the loose, even at the scrum, Ashton managed to take one against the head, however the visitors were not going away. As they pushed wide, Leon would make a tackle, get back to his feet and make a second tackle. Eventually the defence would conceed a penalty but Farai would be on hand to strip the ball, dotting down over his own line. Despite Danail doing his best to disrupt the next attack, eventually the visitors would find a gap and power over to reduce the deficit. (40-33)
With time ticking away, it was still anyone’s, from the restart Finn H who had held his wing really well all afternoon , got up to win the restart and after a knock on by the visitors, Stafford would be well placed with a scrum. As he played the ball Dylan M was hit high and from the penalty Dylan S tapped and gave a simple pop up to the on rushing Cayden who again powered over to score the final try of the afternoon (45-33 missed conv)
Despite there being no more tries, the work was not over for Stafford, good tackles from the pack and good cleaning up by Leon and Freddie and a strong carry from Marley and Danny would see the home team eventually see out the game and take a well deserved win.
So, as we close out the weekend, we can say that both performances were arguably the best of the season, the teamwork across both were what have been required , now the task is to build on it at training and continue in the same vain next weekend. Well done to all, it was good to see smiles back on faces