Forrester grabs the winner for CS

In a contest blighted by the conditions CS Stags maintained their impressive 100% January winning
record.
The match was played in sporadic driving rain and a swirling wind, which made the forwards battle
key and so it proved, when, from a line out deep into the second half, It was the Stags’ forwards who
drove over; a critical score as ultimately there was merely 5 points separating the teams.
The match kicked off with an early downpour. After early pressure and a line out CS took the lead via
a Tom Hodgson penalty. Both teams were still struggling to influence the game until centre Ryan
Martin charged down a Chingford attempted clearance and won the race to touch down which
Tom Hodgson converted 10 – 0. Instead of CS kicking on Chingford worked themselves into the match
when their pressure in mid field developed into a well-supported break from half way 10 – 7. After
CS stole the ball at a ruck Tom Hodgson made an incisive break from near the line to score 17 – 7
which was the half time score, but with CS due to face the wind in second half. As expected, CS had a
lot of defending to deal with. That pressure told and the first second half score was a Chingford
penalty 17 – 10 and when the Chingford forwards drove through the heart of the CS defence the
game was finely balanced 17 – 17. CS worked into a position to attack from a line out. The ball was
cleanly taken, and the forwards then drove over the Chingford line with hooker Josh Forrester at the
rear with the ball to score. 22 – 17. The CS forwards retained the ball for the final moments of the
match to ensure that CS bagged the season double over Chingford and their fourth win in January,
albeit with not such an attractive display as they often produce.
The next League match is the 9th February away to Dorking. CS will be looking for revenge to the defeat earlier in the season at Dukes Meadows that should have been a win Dorking will be after a win to take them above CS in the table.
However, we do have the Middlesex Cup Semi Final next week (2nd February) away to Hammersmith & Fulham RFC with a kick off at 1.30pm. The match is being played at Hurlingham Park, Hurlingham Road, Fulham, London, SW6 3QR. Looking to retain the Cup we won last year.