After last week's loss at the death and the similar outcome to our home fixture against OEs back in September, there was more than an element of balance being restored, as this game was won by Stortford with the final kick of the match. Having said that, the home side, who had dominated the second half, despite playing with only 14 men would have been understandably desperately disappointed to have victory snatched form them. OEs' 14 men performed heroically in their second half comeback, with replacement flyhalf, Will Robinson, a recent recruit with considerable Championship experience pulling the strings and it took colossal determination and ultimately great nerve from Stortford to snatch this huge victory.

OEs had an uphill battle when, with barely 2 minutes of this top of the table clash gone, their tighthead prop, Aston Bevans-Royston was red carded for a head butt and, for the rest of the first half it looked as if they would be made to pay dearly. On 17 minutes, Stortford took the lead with an unconverted try, scored by Mark McCraith, dummying and forcing his way over close to a ruck, after Nick Hankin had made an excellent break to force a penalty near the home 22, which Tom Banks took quickly to almost reach the try line. The visitors were looking threatening now and could well have scored another three tries before the break with a bit of luck and a little more composure at crucial moments. As it was, though, they had to content themselves with a single score which, ironically came after 28 minutes, when Stortford were themselves down to 14 men, after winger, Ryan Hutler had been sin-binned for a clumsy collision, with an OEs player, who had jumped high in the air to field a well-judged box kick from Banks. The try was scored after 28 minutes by Sean Edwards, but was earned by the whole pack, who drove a lineout maul more than 22 metres to allow the prop to touch down. The conversion attempt again went just wide and, with other chances going begging, the halftime scoreline was a mere 0-10, which certainly didn't reflect the balance of play.

The second half, though was a very different affair, with Stortford squandering good early turnover ball and conceding an unnecessary penalty at a breakdown just outside their 22 after only 3 minutes of the half to allow OEs' replacement flyhalf to get them on the scoreboard. This was cancelled out 5 minutes later, when Banks kicked a penalty won by Stortford's hitherto dominant scrum, but the 14 home players then launched themselves into a series of concerted attacks, which were repelled with difficulty and never for long. A number of poor kicks didn't help, but OEs were now reorganised and rejuvenated and Stortford, try as they might, could scarcely get out of their own half. Almost inevitably, penalties were conceded in the face of such concerted pressure, enabling OEs to kick two more goals and narrow their deficit to 3 points, with 15 minutes still to play. The first came after 15 minutes, when Stortford were penalised at a scrum, after personnel changes to both packs had produced a swing in fortunes in this area of the game. The second penalty arose after the home side repeated Stortford's first half feat in driving a lineout maul over 20 metres, which was halted some 15 metres out only by collapsing the maul. At this stage, with OEs becoming ever more confident and Stortford looking increasingly nervous, the only question was, could the visitors hold on to their narrow lead, since it seemed unlikely that they could break out to score themselves. For more than 10 minutes, their determined defence held tight, but it was a turnover from a knock-on, as Stortford tried to run out of their 22 that finally proved their undoing, as quick ball along the line left an overlap on the left, which, despite a tremendous effort by Banks to get in a last ditch cover tackle, saw winger, Dom Lespierre dive in for a try in the corner. The very difficult conversion attempt fell short but, with only a couple of minutes left on the clock, the home side was in the lead for the first time in the whole match. Now, with nothing to lose, the visitors cast their nerves aside and threw themselves onto the attack through many phases - a feat which had eluded them since halftime - and were eventually rewarded with a penalty for a breakdown offence some 35 metres out. Although in front of the posts, it needed a true strike into the breeze - a far from easy proposition, with the whole match hanging on it. The large crowd held its breath and Tom Banks, undaunted, stepped up to thump the ball through the posts, clearing the bar by only a few feet. With no time for a restart, the final whistle went, as Stortford's players and the large contingent of traveling supporters heaved a huge collective sigh of relief.

Things went rather more smoothly on the neighbouring pitch, where Stortford's Blues produced one of their best performances of the season to gain a convincing win over OEs' second team. Impressive wins also by the 4ths and 5ths completed a clean sweep for the Club's teams.