Bishop's Stortford 1st XV 15 Civil Service 33

Stortford started the game well - as they had finished the week before at Staines - and could have been a try up within a couple of minutes but, after a great break by flyhalf, Tom Coleman he was unable to finish it off, with the line begging. It didn't take the visitors long to assert themselves, however, with strong running by their backs and it took only one missed tackle in midfield to open up the home defence. This time, the finishing was clinical, with the right wing set free to dive over for a try out wide. Stortford fought back and, after a good attack, with fullback, Jimmy Rae to the fore, they forced a penalty for offside, which Coleman converted after 15 minutes. It took only another 5 minutes for the home side to take the lead, when flanker, Richard Gill popped up on Coleman's shoulder after a great jinking run by the flyhalf and touched down under the posts. Coleman converted. Civil Service surged back onto the attack and narrowed the points difference after 25 minutes, when they won a penalty for offside. The visitors were now starting to establish their superiority in crucial areas - at the set scrum, in making their tackles and, most crucially in making and taking their passes. This was made to count 30 minutes into the game when, after running through 3 or 4 quick phases, the visitors stretched the home defence and a simple inside pass saw their fullback step inside the final flailing tackle for a try under the posts. The conversion took Civil Service into a 15-10 lead, which was stretched to 18-0 right on the break, when Stortford were penalised for one of a series of offences at the breakdown.

The die was pretty much cast in the first 4 minutes of the second half, when Stortford's poor passing saw two good attacking opportunities wasted and a series of penalties again conceded at breakdowns saw the home side pinned down in its own 22 and down to 14 men as Damian Sangster was yellow carded for these repeated offences. Some dogged defence managed to prevent any score during the 10 minutes' sin-bin period and, ironically, Stortford were starting to fight back, when another try was conceded. First, another good scoring chance was squandered through a momentum-stopping miss pass and then a reckless attempt at a huge pass across a gaping midfield between Stortford's back two from a speculative Civil Service kick, saw the visitors surging into the home side's 22. A few phases of ruck and maul out on the left were enough to stretch the Stortford defence and simple passing down the line proved sufficient to create a two man overlap, which they were not going to waste. This took the score after a quarter of an hour to 10-23 and worse was to come when, after 30 minutes, substitute flanker, Aaron Springham was yellow carded for a reckless late challenge after a Civil Service backrow had kicked ahead. The resultant penalty under the posts was duly converted. Once again, though, Stortford seemed to lift their game when down to 14 men and, witin 2 minutes had scored a try out wide on the right through substitute winger, Lewis Codling, rounding off a rare passage of concerted interplay between forwards and backs. Eventually, however, the visitors managed to wear down the resistance of the 14 men and their bonus-point try was registered after 38 minutes when they capitalised on another strong push at a 5 metre scrum to send their winger crashing over to bring the final score to 15-33.

Although Civil Service probably surprised the home side with the high standard of their play both in their forwards and backs, this was a game which, with better basics in passing and tackling, Stortford could have won. Although Tom Coleman had a good game, it is appropriate that the Mercedes man of the Match award this time went to second row, Dave Aldam for his alround solid performance. Next week's trip to Basingstoke is likely to pose a stern test of the side's ability to produce 15 Aldam-like performances.