Bishop's Stortford 1st XV 25 Worthing 10

The first half of this match, sponsored by Harlow Agricultural Merchants was played in conditions varying from wet to soaking wet, yet Stortford managed to produce some excellent rugby and scored three tries, with their backs always looking threatening. Early pressure from the home side forced a string of penalties and it was no surprise, therefore when, after 7 minutes the Worthing 7 received a yellow card for two successive infringements in the red zone. Stortford pressed forward remorselessly and a penalty try was duly awarded after 10 minutes, following two penalties conceded by Worthing at set scrums. Dotta converted and added an unconverted try 5 minutes later, rounding off a good move based on quick hands in midfield, exploiting a great break by Sam Winter. The home side continued to enjoy the better of the contest and their cause was helped, when Worthing's No 8 was sin-binned on 25 minutes for foul play. Once again, Stortford exploited the extra man ruthlessly and pressed forward through many phases, until Declan Caulfield, who was enjoying one of his strongest games in the loose, was driven over by his pack from a maul for another unconverted try after 29 minutes. Worthing now mounted a rare attack, built on an offside penalty award against Stortford and, when advantage was being played for another Stortford offence, the visitors' flyhalf, Sean O'Hagan scored a good drop goal on 33 minutes. The three points were soon cancelled out, though, when Dotta kicked a penalty 2 minutes later after a Worthing offence at a scrum. A careless knock on from the restart, though gave the visitors a foothold in the Stortford 22, from which they launched wave after wave of attacks on the home try-line. Stortford's collective determination to keep their line intact was severely tested, but proved up to the examination, finally forcing a penalty for failing to release the ball after a tackle, just before the half ended with a 20-3 scoreline.

Stortford started the second period strongly and, after 9 minutes registered their bonus point try, when Dom Morris rounded off a period of sustained pressure, built on a strong drive and hand-off by Johnny Neville. The difficult conversion was missed and this proved to be the last real chance that the home side had to score, as their scrum started to struggle and the rest of their game appeared to slide. Worthing were clearly determined to make a match of it and used their new-found dominance at the scrums to exert strong pressure on the home defence. This eventually led after 17 minutes to a yellow card for Tom McCrone. following a series of team offences and, as Stortford had done in the first half, they quickly capitalised on the extra man to force their own penalty try after a series of scrum penalties. O'Hagan's conversion narrowed Stortford's lead to 15 points, and his side clearly saw a chance to turn the game around. More strong defence by Stortford, though allowed them to protect their lead without too much difficulty - even after Baxter Wilson was yellow-carded after 32 minutes, following a fracas off the ball. Both sides became increasingly prone to handling errors and the game rather fizzled out in the last 10 minutes.

NFU Mutual Man of the Match was Sam Winter, with Dec. Caulfield getting the Coaches' vote.

A valuable 5 league points for Stortford, despite their having failed to hit their attacking straps consistently against determined opponents, but the squad will doubtless be working hard during the week to build towards a stronger 80 minute performance in the big game at Clifton next Saturday.