The Wild Geese clearly came determined to compete and their strong tackling, particularly in the first half, allied with a level of niggle at close quarters could have made this a difficult encounter. For most of the game, though, Stortford held their discipline and some good rugby in the first half effectively sealed the victory. The home side had the bulk of possession and territory during the first period and some strong, direct rugby through the side, combined with a low error rate saw them dominate proceedings despite the visitors' high commitment level. The first breakthrough came after 8 minutes, with Jon George driving over the line with support from two teammates after the ball was moved quickly from a breakdown on the other side of the pitch. Tom Banks converted to take the lead to 7 points, but this was narrowed almost directly from the restart, when fullback, Ollie Turner converted a penalty for a breakdown infringement in front of Stortford's posts. Within 5 minutes, though the home side was 9 points ahead, when Steve Ball crashed over for an unconverted try, after the defence had been stretched through several phases. Stortford were now well on top and scored their third try on 21 minutes, with Will Simmonds finishing out wide after taking a long pass, following a quick tapped penalty by Banks. The scrumhalf's conversion attempt unluckily bounced back off a post, but he had no such problem 3 minutes later, after Matt Tomlinson had burst through from a short pass from Tom Coleman about 20 yards out to run in for the bonus-point try, after the team had again pulled the defence first left then right. Jon George scored his second and his team's 5th try after 32 minutes, taking a smart inside pass from Jimmy Rea, after Banks had made a great break from the base of a scrum and only a deliberate knock-on had probably prevented an earlier score. Another conversion from the scrumhalf took the halftime score to 31-3.

The home side picked up in the second half where they had left off and had scored two more tries within 5 minutes. The first came from replacement scrumhalf, Sam Coleman, making a clean break from the base of a 5 metre scrum and the same player then kicked the conversion. Barely a minute had passed, before Nick Hankin ran in a good try after a tremendous midfield break by Sam Winter, but the conversion attempt from out wide fell short. The game then became very scrappy, as Stortford lost their shape a bit and the visitors lost their cool. The Wild Geese's number 5, Andy Evans paid the price for a clear stamp on an opponent with a red card on 53 minutes and the match then became increasingly fractious, with the quality of rugby deteriorating further. This culminated in a second fracas, which produced yellow cards for Chris Aldam and the visitors' captain, Scott Moore, the latter becoming a red, since he had already been yellow-carded for foul play in the first half. Stortford eventually pulled themselves together again and ran in two final, unconverted tries through Will Simmonds and BIT Solutions man of the Match, Nick Hankin on 70 and 72 minutes. The first came from an horrendous error by the Irish in midfield, but the second came from quick hands and a sharp break by Hankin, after a tremendous take by James Apperley from the restart kick.

Another convincing win in this match, sponsored by Elms BMW maintains Stortford's position at the head of National 2 South, but next week's visit to Henley will undoubtedly present a significantly bigger challenge. Our close knit group of players will doubtless be relishing, this prospect - as are the many traveling supporters!