Stoke 12 Vs Stafford 19

Our last game as Terriers was away from home at Stoke, who despite some one-sided scores are always a good opponent, they have a couple of strong ball carriers and have improved their defence.
So wasn’t it lovely to be greeted first off by a 5 degree temperature, a breeze, light rain and a sloping muddy pitch, did anyone mention that it is nearly May!
As always, we travelled with numbers, almost 30 players, a couple of late withdrawals from Rich, Jack and Harrison E meant the squad was still big but game time would be assured for all. It was a shame that Joe, James and Danail couldn’t attend the last match, but great to see Ed, Alfie, and Harrison M made the trip to support the team.
Thankfully by kick off the wind had dropped a little and the rain had cleared away, Captain Jonah opted to go uphill first, a decision which in the grand scheme of things worked in our favour.
Although the Stoke kick-off didn’t go ten and Stafford got their hands on the ball early, it was clearly a bit slippery and despite early go forward, knock on’s stifled the Terriers progress.
It wouldn’t be too long till they had the ball again after Mason turned the ball over and after Stafford were awarded a penalty Elijah pushed the Terriers down the pitch. Stoke though were up for this game and came back and put in a clever cross kick that the Stafford defence didn’t deal with and only a great cover tackle from Leon prevented the opening score.
Stafford as always looked to run from deep despite the suggestion from the coaches to ‘clear their lines’. Oscar and Carta both carried well and the forwards through Oli B were clearing some rucks out and retaining the ball.
From a scrum, Dex went blind and with Oscar in support moved the ball, unfortunately the final ball to Rory fell short and Stoke regained possession.
Despite the heavy pitch the ball was being moved between the 22’s by both teams, each making half breaks, one such break by Leon was well supported by Carta and Finn G from fullback showing that despite the mud, it wasn’t necessarily going to be a forward orientated day.
Stoke were now deep in their 22 and kicked to clear, Finn G gathered and with Carta outside him fed the centre and with the forwards recycling Jake powered over and looked to have opened the scoring, only to have been judged to have made a double movement, the score therefore remained 0-0.
Stafford continued to knock on the door and both Matty and Danny were putting in the ‘dirty’ work to maintain possession, after the 4th phase, Dylan shifted the ball long and as the Stoke defence drifted, Elijah threw a lovely dummy, straightened and went over to score the opening points. (0-7 Elijah conv). It would be the 10’s last action of the first off after taking a knock and the returning Harry H entered the fray.
Stoke weren’t going away and the Terriers were soon on the back foot and defending deep in their own 22. Turnovers by Tyler and Jonah were being run out by Harry H and Oscar but unfortunately Stoke turned the ball over and a last gasp tackle by Oscar and Rory kept the home team out. A further surge saw the home team drop the ball over the line and a goal line dropout allowed some breathing space, this was followed up by some great work by Jake to win a penalty almost straight away and again Stafford would clear their lines.
Again, Stoke came back and some massive hits by Oli O and Jake allowed Leon to smuggle the ball away and Dex broke beyond the 22. Stafford again moved the ball wide, this time to Declan, who was hit man and ball but did really well to maintain possession.
Then the time came for what could have been (and in my eyes was) the try of the season. Finn G deep in his half gathered and fed Leon, he in turn made a break and fed Carta who passed to Dex, the back row stepped and straightened before feeding Carta again who went in to score. It was a lovely flowing move from 22 to try line, ¾ of the pitch, only for the ref to give a forward pass (more about that later).
Before the half time whistle would sound, Stafford again would press with Tyler and Bobby providing support in both attack and defence, only for Stoke to be awarded a penalty after a high tackle from Carta.
At halftime the message was simple, keep playing, keep the pressure on, tries will come, but let’s finish this off.
Stoke would start the second half the stronger despite playing ‘uphill’ and even when Stafford went wide to either Finn H or Declan, the move would be halted by a determined home defence. The same went for Stoke as they went wide where Finn H and Fraser would close their opposite numbers down quickly.
A penalty saw Stafford kick to touch, the lineout was called and executed beautifully short by Carter, Dex and Mason, getting Stafford well on the front foot and in the opposition half, Will Vn moved the ball quickly through the hands to Matty and Carter. Will Vn then moved the ball again, Harry H shifted the ball on, Connor straightened, passed to Jude who set and passed to Harry W. The fullback stepped inside, broke a tackle and stepped inside again to score, before adding the extra 2pts. (0-14)
From the kick-off Stoke pushed hard and after a couple of mistakes trying to clear their lines, the home team would be camped on the Stafford line. Despite great defence, Fraser was deemed to have been offside and deliberately knocked the ball down, so a yellow card was shown. Credit to Fraser he spoke to the ref calmly, accepted the card and went to the bin for 7minutes.
From the penalty and despite the best efforts of the Terriers forwards Stoke piled over to reduce the deficit (7-14).
Stafford, down to 14 and having conceded a try, could have dropped their levels but the returning bundle of energy and confidence that is Will B made sure that everyone knew their jobs. Connor and Jude were finding their feet and started to make inroads in both a pressure defence and hard running attack, Owen (our 6th winger of the day) in only his second game was seeing the ball wide and the tireless Tyler, Dex and Jake were hitting everything that moved in a blue shirt.
As Stafford regained possession, Will B kicked to the corner to turn the home team and the pressure would tell. A couple of phases later it would be the same player who powered over to score the Terriers third try of the day (7-19 missed conv).
Considering we were well into the second half and some of the players were understandably tiring, the play by four players showed the excellent communication and play that the lads can do under pressure. Mason collected the kick-off cleanly and was tackled almost immediately, he offloaded though beautifully just before the hit and Dex continued the charge. The ball was then moved to Connor who again just before the tackle, offloaded to Jonah back on the inside and the Terriers kept moving the ball forward. Some good hands by the backs saw Finn G cut a lovely line back inside and the forwards provided a strong platform for Will B to have a go at a drop goal (the only kind of points he has not scored this season). Unfortunately, the kick was just pulled wide but you’ve got to applaud the effort as it would have put Stafford beyond two scores.
It would though be Stokes turn to attack and after a number of phases and despite strong defence, Stoke broke through. Good hands between players, (similar to Cartas non try in the first half) would see the home team score. I would say that the final pass was almost identical to the pass in the first half that was called back, sometimes at this level, it happens, you’ve got to swallow it and keep pushing. (12-19 missed conv).
Despite Stafford being back to 15, Stoke looked to push and get the scores level, and a well-judged kick through saw the Stafford backs caught out of position and only a great track back by Will B would see the Terriers stay ahead, as the fly half grounded the ball in his own try area , marginally ahead of the charging Stoke winger.
As the last couple of minutes of this pulsating encounter ticked down there would be one last big defensive stand required to see it out. Jake and Dex made some huge hits and Will B came up with a huge turnover. A couple of phases later, Will Vn managed (just) to kick the ball out and the final whistle was sounded to the delight of all present.
It was a fitting finale to the season, all players no matter their experience or skill level putting in a real shift and leaving it all out there, for both themselves, but also their teammates.
It has been a real pleasure to have coached and been around the team this season, but like all good things the season has come to its natural end.
It was a Squad effort, but three players stood out today, the back row trio of Dex, Jake and Tyler were immense today and deserve the extra round of applause. So, we move onto next week and a real celebration for the team and Terrier family some of which have been together for a decade, some for only a couple of weeks, it doesn’t matter though, once a Terrier always a Terrier.
There will be one last write up next week!