HML D4. Bishop's Stortford U16B 38 Staines 34

Bishop's Stortford U16B got the new season underway in spectacular style against the division's other promoted side. Staines pipped Stortford by 2 points to top division 5 in April and won that season's corresponding fixture by a single point. Stortford were eager to turn that result around, believing they could have done better last time.

There were a few changes. With injuries in the backs and a couple of forwards helping the A's, the B's were grateful for our new recruits (Keene and Martin) making their debuts.

The Blues kicked off and did well in the early exchanges with Colby making a great run, but it was Staines who came closest to scoring when they were held up over the Stortford try line. Their pressure soon told when a mistake in a defensive line out saw Staines pounce for the first try, smartly converted. 0-7.

Stortford came back well and from a scrum, Venus worked the ball to Allen and then on to Colby. He blitzed the opposing defence down the left wing before running a try under the posts for Kettle to convert for 7-7.

Shortly after the re-start, Stortford again won a scrum, against the head. Pressure by Guy-Walters forced a Staines error which Allen snatched to score in the right hand corner. 12-7. Stortford began to take control, hitting Staines with counter attacking rugby at every chance. Venus made a powerful break from midfield then was tackled but not before offloading the ball to Davies who, with plenty to do, never looked back before scoring under the posts. Kettle converted for 19-7.

Staines, out of the game for a while, managed to press an attack inside the 5 metre line. Kettle gained possession at the turnover then kicked, chased, gathered and sprinted the field for the line. And then converted 26-7. In their next attack, Staines elected to kick a penalty over to give themselves something to build on and at half time Stortford led 26-10.

Staines restarted with renewed intent. From a line-out on the 22 almost scored when Stortford held them up again at the try line. It was short lived as Staines found space on the left with a clever kick and touched down on the left wing. It was unconverted but within minutes they scored and converted another to close gap to 26-22. Stortford now had to dig deep, but with Staines shutting off the supply to the wings and snapping at the half backs the hastiness of passing led to inevitable handling errors. For a time it looked as though Stortford had stopped the rot but Staines began to take a stranglehold on the match. Further tries saw them take a 26-34 lead with the game drawing to a close. Just as the pendulum swung, Staines way, either side of half time, Stortford began to recover. A sustained spell in the Staines 22 led to a score by Allen. However it was disallowed as the referee had stopped play for a Staines injury. Thankfully the Staines player recovered though injury time was to end up to the Blues advantage. First Venus scored and Kettle converted to bring Stortford back to within a point at 33-34. From the restart, with seconds to play, Stortford put in an outstanding effort. Venus rucked and ripped possession before feeding Kettle. The pass to Smith was perfect and after being thwarted earlier, this time, when it mattered most, Smith made it count and scored with the last play to send the watching faithfull into a frenzy of celebration. Final score 38-34.

A memorable win and 5 points against a Staines side who if anything were stronger than last season.

Team - Munro, Kettle, Benfield, Davies, White, Smith, Keene, Rolleston, Arnold, Martin, Blomiley, Bennet, Chapman, Dann, Wyatt, Avontuur, Watt Guy-Walters, Venus, Allen, Colby.