The game started in a steady and drenching drizzle that continued throughout the first half, making handling difficult, which inevitably produced a series of errors by both sides, but there was no doubt from the word go as to which side was coping the better with the difficult conditions. With Tom Coleman pulling the tactical strings almost to perfection, his team seemed to have a clear edge in the crucial breakdown area and support seemed to come in waves, which the visitors found hard to combat. It was no surprise, then that the first score went to the home side after 10 minutes, when Chris Aldam seized on the loose ball after a tremendous chargedown in midfield by Seb Brownhill. The youngster, making his first 1st XV start was outstanding until he succumbed to a concussion injury in the second half, more than holding his ow in the tight, despite playing on his less favoured side of the scrum at tighthead and prominent also in the loose. Tom Banks kicked the conversion, as he did 15 minutes later, after Westbury Garden Rooms, Man of the Match, Matt Tomlinson had sprinted and crashed his way over from some 20 yards out. His team might well have registered more tries during the first period, but crucial errors and some strong Bury tackling protected their line, conceding only a difficult Banks penalty a minute or two before the break, after the visitors' pack was penalised at their own scrum some 40 yards out. This took the halftime score to 17-0.

As the weather improved for the second half, so Stortford lifted their game again and surged straight onto the attack from the restart, forcing 2 5 meter lineouts in a row, the drives from which could be stopped only illegally. Bury's loosehead prop, Kai Griffiths paid the price in the form of a yellow card and almost immediately that man, Brownhill made them pay by plunging over in the corner for a debut try. Banks' conversion attempt went narrowly wide, but he made no such mistake after 53 minutes, when he registered his team's bonus point try, with a tremendous solo dart from the base of a ruck some 20 yards out, set up when Steve Ball, on for Dec Caulfield as hooker looped round one of many strong Stortford lineouts, to put his pack on the front foot. The game was disrupted on 68 minutes, when both Brownhill and loosehead, Rory Young were injured in separate incidents, forcing Stortford to go for unopposed scrums and play out the rest of the match with 14 men, as a result. Bury were quick to seize on the one man advantage, exploiting a rare visit into Stortford's 22 from a penalty to create a gap fro winger, Michael Mellett, converted by Liam McBride. Undaunted, the home side flew back onto the attack and registered the final score through a Sam Winter try, after he seized on a deft chip by replacement scrumhalf, Alex Patton within the Bury 22. Pier Dotta added the two points to take the final score to a well-deserved 36-7.

The control exercised by Stortford in often very trying conditions for almost the entirety of this match, sponsored by active Club supporters, Tees and the occasional bursts of outstanding rugby right across the team was most impressive and gave the crowd of over 400 a lot to cheer about, despite the miserable weather. Seeing the Blues prevail well over Bury's Second XV on the adjoining pitch only added to an excellent day in the rain. Let's hope, nevertheless, that the sun will shine on us at Cinderford next week!