Bishop's Stortford 1st XV 20 Barnes 32

A guard of honour formed by supporters greeted the Stortford team onto the pitch, led for the day by Kiwi flanker, Maehe Austin, making potentially his last appearance for the Club after three and a half years, before he returns home – at least for a while! The whole side started as if inspired and steamed in to the opposition with great effect, culminating in a try after only 4 minutes to Nick Harris, as centre, John Stocker checked inside and committed the defence off good scrum ball to give his winger a clear sight of the line. Flyhalf, Tom Coleman capped this off with an excellent touchline conversion. A significant reverse was suffered only three minutes later, however, when stalwart flanker, Richard Gill had to go off to hospital with a suspected torn bicep. This resulted in a total reorganisation of the back row, with David Rose coming on at blindside, Austin moving to No 8 and Mark McCraith taking Gill’s position. Initially, these changes did not appear to affect the home side’s performance and, 11 minutes into the game they were rewarded with a penalty by Coleman slotted from almost halfway, as Stortford surged forward once again. The initiative was retained for the next 10 minutes or so, when a left footed drop goal attempt by Coleman went only narrowly wide. The visitors now started very slowly to come more into the game, despite repeated knock-ons, but it has to be said that their efforts were assisted by a series of penalties conceded by Stortford. Eventually, 26 minutes into the game, a crucial offence was committed, as a well-judged grubber kick from Barnes bounced very awkwardly just short of the Stortford line and home scrumhalf, Sam Coleman found himself instinctively batting the ball into touch. A maul formed off the back of a resultant lineout was driven clinically over the Stortford line for a try out wide to prop, Joel Burgess. Fullback, Warren Gower nailed the conversion from the touchline to narrow the gap to three points. Although now being slightly edged in possession and territory, Stortford fought their way back into the Barnes half and registered their own try off a rolling maul from another 5 metre lineout, after the visitors were penalised at a breakdown in their own half. Hooker, Declan Caulfield made the touchdown and Coleman’s conversion attempt, unfortunately bounced out off the near upright from wide on the right. As the half came to a close, it was the visitors’ turn to make a crucial error, as a knock-on in their midfield was brilliantly gathered at close quarters by second row, Hamish Irving to burst some 30 meters down field, before shovelling the ball out to a supporting player, who fed fullback, Sam Winter on the burst to touch down out wide. Coleman’s conversion attempt again went narrowly wide, but Stortford went into the break happy with a 20-7 scoreline.

The second period almost immediately threatened another crucial try for the home side, as Stocker burst through the first line of defence and made many yards, before handing on to Harris to surge into the Barnes 22. Quick ruck ball gave Austin a sight of the line and, breaking through a double tackle, he reached for the line and, although reaching it, was deemed by the referee to have spilled the ball forward before exerting downward pressure. The potential fairytale ending for the departing flanker soon turned into a nightmare. A penalty quickly won by his side in an eminently kickable position in the Barnes 22 was stupidly lost, when the referee reversed his decision after some reckless Stortford footwork at the ruck after the whistle had blown. This turnover proved even more significant, as the visitors effectively made a 6 point gain when, within a minute they had swept upfield and won their own penalty, which Gower had no problem again in converting, three minutes into the half. By this stage, Stortford’s woes had been further increased, when Stocker had to leave the field for more treatment to an injury incurred in the first half. Barnes were now gaining greater self-confidence and but for a couple of tremendous Stortford lineouts, one against the throw, more might well have been made of two threatening incursions into the home half. There then followed a period of reciprocal generosity, as Barnes committed a series of further knock-ons and Stortford gave away a number of penalties. Eventually, some 12 minutes into the half, one of a number of penalties conceded by the home side for offside at breakdowns was punished by the unerring boot of Gower to narrow the margin to a mere 7 points. Worse was to come, within 5 minutes, though, when Stortford found a new way of turning over the ball via a crooked throw at the previously dominant lineout and this time, no knock-ons were forthcoming to spare their blushes. Two or three phases later, an incisive break by the Barnes scrumhalf from just outside the Stortford 22, needed the support of only one forward, who crashed over under the posts, effectively to level the scores, with Gower never going to miss the easy conversion. Just when home supporters thought that things could hardly get worse, an horrendous injury to prop, Will Freeston (subsequently found to be a double leg fracture) saw Stortford deprived of yet another key player. The fact that the tackle from which the injury arose was made almost on the Barnes line, as “Chunky” drove forward after a great charge down by him of an attempted clearance kick from the base of a maul, merely added to the pain felt at that stage by the whole Stortford camp. As if things were not now bad enough, when play eventually was restarted after a prolonged break for the injury, Stortford duly won the ball at the 5 metre scrum restart and were pressing the visitors’ line, when a turnover was conceded via an ill-considered tug on a Barnes shirt off the ball. With more than 20 minutes still to go, Stortford’s course seemed effectively to have been run, as their error and, particularly their penalty count rose and Barnes, showing their greater experience, managed to cut down their own mistakes quite dramatically. With Stortford’s discipline not improving, the visitors ruthlessly drove forward time after time and merely needed to wait for penalties to be conceded within range of the home team’s posts for their fullback to take the inevitable three points. This happened 4 times in the last quarter of an hour or so of the game, as Stortford struggled to get their hands on the ball and the third of these also brought a yellow card for Rose for repeated team offences. The final score was, therefore 20-32, a fair reflection of the overall balance of play, but, despite the part played by their serious injury problems, the Stortford boys will undoubtedly still be disappointed at the manner of their defeat to the new table-toppers.

Total playing resources next week may well be significantly reduced by today’s depredations, but your reporter, for one, is confident that the team’s collective determination will be increased to more than offset this, for what will be another hard game at Tonbridge.