Stortford put in a strong first half, with both sides looking to run the ball and it was they that scored first, with Chris Smith punishing a lazy Plymouth chase back to touch down a Dan Powell kick after 10 minutes. The conversion attempt went wide, as did a penalty 3 minutes later, after one of many offside decisions against both sides. The home side took the lead with 20 minutes gone with winger, Craig Duncan touching down following an attacking lineout from another offside penalty and Tom Putt converting. Stortford were back in front almost immediately, with Sam Johnson recovering the restart kick and Alex Gilham catching a clever Powell chip ahead on the full and dodging his way over. Tom Mills converted. The lead changed hands again, 7 minutes later, sandwiching another converted Plymouth try from hooker, Rhys Williams from a quickly tapped penalty, after Stortford's scrum came under a bit of pressure, being penalised twice in succession. Stortford fought back, though and were good value for a 14-18 halftime lead, after Tom Mills added two penalty goals on 31 and 38 minutes.

The second half started well for the visitors, with another Mills penalty after 3 minutes, following a few phases of attacking play. That gave them a 7 point lead, but from that point on the game started to slip from their grasp, with frequent penalties conceded, their cause not being helped by the loss to injury of skipper, Will Rogers with 48 minutes gone. Stortford needed to produce some typically dogged defending, as Plymouth increased the pressure and a yellow card to Mills after 50 minutes for a deemed deliberate knock-on lead immediately to an unconverted try for Williams from a driving maul, after the penalty was kicked to touch. As the home side turned up the attacking heat even more, the penalty count against Stortford, almost inevitably rose. More great defence, however, kept their line intact until the 74th minute, despite further yellow cards to Ollie Jones after 64 minutes (side entry at a breakdown) and Mills after 73 ( became a red for a second deliberate knock-on). The latter was followed immediately by a fourth Plymouth try which went unconverted, but took them into a crucial lead. Facing no more than 14 men for the last quarter of the game, the home side, almost inevitably, dominated the final stages, but were unable to break down again Stortford's hugely committed defence.