Tring 25 Bishop's Stortford 1st XV 24

Judging by the relative league positions of the two sides before this game, this should have been an easy win for the home team. Instead, the Bishop's Stortford pack dominated much of the game and it took two tries in the last six minutes for Tring to nick the game at the death.

Playing into the breeze and against the notorious slope down to the lefthand corner, Stortford started the game with determination and dominated possession - albeit much in their own half. It took only a couple of handling errors, therefore to give the home side a strong attacking position, which they exploited well, forcing a penalty at a breakdown, which winger Liam Chennells easily converted for a 3 point lead after 15 minutes. The scores were levelled some 8 minutes later, when Sam Coleman kicked a penalty again for a breakdown offence, following strong thrusts first down the right, then the left by brothers, Wayne and Jono Child. After only 3 minutes, though, the home side registered the first try of the game, following a clumsy attempt by the Stortford backs to run ball out of their own 22, which ended in a knock-on. From the resultant scrum, it was all too easy for Tring fullback, Tom Newton to exploit a 2 on 2 position to chip ahead for Chennells to gather on the full and touch down for a try, which he converted himself. Another 5 minutes were enough to see the visitors back on equal terms, though, when their dominant scrum earned a penalty try as the Tring pack collapsed the scrum as they were driven back over their line. Coleman duly converted. Unfortunately, despite a now rampant pack, Stortford were unable to press home their advantage and the last event of the half was another penalty by Chennells, when Stortford lock, David Rose was penalised for driving in at the side of an innocuous ruck - an offence which also brought him a yellow card - probably for stupidity.

Despite starting the second half one man short, Stortford were quickly on the attack and only a desperate last ditch Tring tackle held up fullback, Jimmy Rea over the line follwing his own chip kick, after a poor Tring clearance kick. Shortly after, player numbers were evened up, when a Tring lock was yellow carded for a second offence for foul play in quick succession. Stortford kept the pressure on after the resultant penalty and 5 minutes into the half, the forwards drove strongly to put the home defence on the back foot and, as the ball was moved quickly to the left, Coleman was able to step inside the cover defence to touch down for a try, which he himself converted. Stortford maintained the upper hand for most of the next 20 minutes, but were unable to score again until, after 28 minutes of the half, Rea scored another try: Following a period of really heavy pressure on the Tring line, involving a number of scrums, which produced 3 successive penalties for the visitors, it was a surprise to many when skipper Mark McCraith opted to run the last one but, although the first couple of thrusts were repelled, quick third phase ball produced a clear overlap on the right and a clever chip kick from Coleman found Rea with space over the line. Coleman's conversion of the try stretched Stortford's lead to 13-24. Shortly after this, a potentially crucial substitution took place when, livewire scrumhalf, Tom Banks, who had suffered a heavy knock some 5 minutes earlier was taken off. Rea took over at scrum half and his place at fullback was taken by substitute, Ashley Boyle and a hitherto fairly smooth-running engine started to splutter, as some of the Stortford players seemed to tire. The situation was worsened over the next 7 minutes, as first, a clash of heads between winger, Nick Harris and Rea, as they got in a complete muddle in midfield, saw the former having to leave the pitch pouring with blood, meaning that openside flanker, Jamie Campbell had to move onto the wing. On 37 minutes of the half, a scuffle between Stortford's N0 6, Maehe Austin and a Tring substitute forward brought yellow cards for both - even though the latter clearly threw a haymaker punch. Irrespective of this, the loss of their second flanker from central defensive duties in the space of a few minutes damaged the visitors much more than Tring's loss of a front row. This was particulrly significant, in that the home side now embarked on a concerted series of attacks through their forceful and well-organised backs. Firstly, a try was created out wide right, as Tring ruthlessly exploited an overlap created by quick movement of the ball to and fro across the pitch. Chennells could not convert, but the home side was even more fired up and once again launched into more sweeping attacks. The ever-tiring Stortford defence managed to hold out for 5 minutes, but eventually a weary forward conceded a penalty in midfield. Slow to form up their line, the visitors were caught totally on the hop by a (not particularly quick) tapped penalty and just one short pass to a looping threequarter saw him cross untouched under the posts. The conversion took Tring into a one point lead and when Stortford failed to kick the restart dropout ten metres the game was over.

Tring deserve massive credit for the way that they fought back against the elements at the end - as their backs were provided with a supply of ball, previously largely denied them. Stortford were, undoubtedly - yet again! - unlucky with injuries, but it has to be said that this was a major opportunity for a morale-boosting win which was lost through some poor decision making and a few individual errors.