Pass the Valium

Match report In John's temporary absence by Mark Smith assisted by the @BSRugby Twitter feed.

This important top half of the table clash was played on a clear but cool day, & a perfect pitch. In the earlier fixture between the two teams a 6-6 draw had been ground out in dreadful conditions, the hope today was for much more.
Pressure from Tonbridge from the kick off resulted in them crossing the try line after only 3 minutes only to be pulled back by the referee as the last pass drifted forward. This was an early wake up call for a slow starting Stortford.
The action ebbed and flowed in the middle of the pitch until finally a TJ’s penalty crept over the bar with the help of the upright to make it 0-3. Stortford responded quickly though, with a penalty of their own, to level the match at 3-3.
In what was always going to be a tight game the sides exchanged kicks, rucks and rolling mauls until a break by TJ’s centre John Farmer was spun wide to Full Back Ian Davey for a simple score. The conversion though was pulled wide. 3-8
A spell of poor tackling then allowed the Tonbridge Fly Half Charlie Harding to spot a gap to glide through, complete a pass to the flanker on his right and once again TJ’s found themselves across the line. This time the kick is good. And at Half time Stortford were struggling 3-15 down.
The second half started more positively for us though with Stocker making a clean break, and a good interchange of passes eventually put Marcus Cattell in the corner for our first try. Tom Coleman nailed a difficult kick from a very tight angle and at 10-15 it looked like we are back in the game
The next play resulted in Scrum half Sam Coleman taking a big hit to the face which led to his immediate replacement by Jimmy Rea. TJ’s were then penalised for not rolling away at the tackle and the ever reliable Tom Coleman closed the gap to 2 points. 13-15.
But the visitors weren’t about to yield the lead easily and following a sustained period of possession, Dan Hawkes their scrum half chipped over for his winger to score in the corner. The conversion though once again drifted wide. 13-20.
Stortford responded to that blow immediately and Steve Bull picked up from the base of a ruck and fought his way over the line score under the posts. Coleman once again added the extras and the game was all square at 20-20.
At this point the game was very tense with neither side fault free, both apparently waiting for the mistake that would allow a score. That score came for the home team when TJ’s were penalised for killing the ball and Tom Coleman put Stortford ahead for the first time in the match. 23-20.
A period of positive play from the hosts led to yet another penalty opportunity for Tom Coleman which he duly took to extend his sides lead to 26-20.
But TJ’s refused to give up and after a lengthy period of pressure the a gap was finally prised open in the home sides defence with what proved to be the final play of the game. At 26-25 it all came down to the final conversion kick to decide the match but from an eminently kickable position the TJ’s player missed and the anxious home support could finally exhale and celebrate the narrowest of victories . 26-25.
TJ’s must have rued so many missed kicks and on their journey back to Kent been wondering how they lost the game. It was by no means our best performance of the season and not even the most fervent Stortford supporter would deny that we probably dodged a bullet on this occasion having been outscored 4 tries to 2. Luckily for us we had a great place kicker and they did not!
So we’ll take the win if not the performance and move on to our next fixture against Tring this coming Saturday (9th). There are though no easy games in this league and Tring are fighting for their lives in this league. We can therefore anticipate another titanic battle. The edgy home support will hope though that next time whilst the result stays the same, the performance is a little more assured Otherwise we’ll have to start serving Valium from the pitch side bar!