The visitors got off to the worst possible start, when an early defensive error out wide gifted a two on one to Ionians, which they grabbed with relish to put their right wing in for a try after only 2 minutes of the game, well converted by their flyhalf. Stortford responded positively and after a spell of pressure a good dart and kick ahead by Chris Smith took his side into the Ionians 22. Further pressure forced a penalty, from which Stortford opted for a scrum, off the back of which, Rory Banks seized on a loose ball to slide over for a try after 10 minutes, easily converted by George Cullen. Stortford were soon back on the attack and a tremendous driving maul, which took play some 20 yards and into the home 22 provided the platform for another try, when the ball was swung quickly to the right, where Nick Hankin ran a good outside arc to scythe between centre and wing to slide over for a try on 17 minutes. Cullen’s conversion attempt went narrowly wide. The lead proved to be short-lived, though as one of a number of ill-targeted clearance kicks was punted back and a mix up between 2 Stortford defenders under the high ball allowed the ball to bounce free and two flykicks from Ionians’ players put them in for an extremely soft try under the posts, the conversion taking the hosts 2 points ahead. Stortford again got onto the front foot and one of a number of scrum penalties was slotted by Cullen after 28 minutes to restore the narrowest of leads for the visitors. Ionians, though battled back into the Stortford 22, where a deliberate knock-on by Matt Riddington saw the centre yellow carded. The resultant penalty shot at goal, though came back off the upright and some sturdy defence saw out the half without points being conceded.

Despite starting with 14 men, Stortford dominated possession and territory for the first 10 minutes of the second half, but lacked the penetration to score and eventually conceded a penalty. Ionians were unable, though to retain possession and Stortford were soon back on the attack, winning a penalty, which Cullen converted to stretch the lead to 4 points after 15 minutes. The home side fought back and, showing greater penetration through their backs than Stortford had produced, put the visitors’ line under pressure – aided by a number of unforced errors and a couple of penalties for offside. Some typically stout Stortford defending, though repelled the threat and the visitors had much the better of the remaining exchanges, but without really threatening to breach again the Ionians’ line. With 5 minutes to go, though more Stortfod forward pressure forced another penalty and Cullen’s unerring boot took his side out to a 7 point lead. Showing the benefit of lessons learned earlier in the season, the visitors saw out the remaining minutes in classical style, going through a few phases of driving forwards play to set up a pinpoint touch kick from Sam Coleman for touch well inside the Ionians’ half and then bottling up the attempted counter.

This was a hard-fought, if dour victory, that brought a well-deserved end to a tough three-game losing streak.