Conditions sunny, dry, firm under foot, an undulating pitch and an erratic blustering wind running across the pitch…… The match day squad had 3 changes from last week’s game…. With changes at fly half, prop, hooker and on the wing in the starting 15.

The match started with the ”Stags” playing down the hill away from the clubhouse…. The first 20 minutes are best described as unsettled, erratic and for the faint hearted slightly unnerving, at 20 minutes we were down 18-0. Redeeming features of the first 20 - tackling solid, a very stable scrum and strong running in the backs…. Our only problem was that we were not handling the offloads…. Despite the score we did not look out of it and the spirit and fight was evident….

At the 20 minute mark, we had a scrum at the 10m line with the ball being released down the line Freddie, Cracknell (14), Parimal “Paz”Shrestha (15), Noah Callaghan (12) through to Luke Trigg (11) who scored, 18-5. Energised by the score the Stags increased the tempo and pressure with strong running. A strong line break by Alex Jones (9) resulted in a sequence of pushes for the line at short distance… with Tom Johnson (4) dropping over the line to score from less than a metre - 18-10… converted by John Hargreaves (10) 18-12. With the clock running towards half time, Luke Trigg (11) intercepted (my poetic license) to run in from the 10-metre line avoiding several tacklers to score in the corner – 18-17. Much to the frustration of the TW crowd.

HT – 18-17 (2 tries to 3 tries)

The second half saw the Stags playing up hill and with the wind not benefitting either side. We started how we finished the first half, with plenty of competitive pressure… it was becoming a tussle….. the scrum was strong and competing Noah de Wild (1), Ricky Hollamby (2), and Andrew Barton (3) and Dan James (replacement 2) all performing well… the lineout was an issue for both teams with overthrows, not straights, etc….

We succumbed to a penalty and the scoreboard moved to 21-17, which was further extended following a TW breakout that was dealt with 24-17 and down to 14 men… the team dealt with the situation admirably despite renewed momentum from TW. We had a kick through into the 22 with the TW fullback not dealing with the ball and under pressure from a strong follow up, which was sufficient for the fullback slicing his kick into touch at the 22…. The pack executed a strong lineout and drive, Andrew Fadera (6) driving further before releasing the ball down the line allowing Emmet McDonnell (replacement centre) straightening the line of attack, breaking numerous tackles and stretching out to score – 24-22. Converted by John Hargreaves (10) 24-24.

Following the restart TW had the opportunity to take the lead back with a penalty which was missed. With 3 minutes left on the clock we were back to 15 players and the push to the finish began. The tempo increased again and soon we were back in the TW half, the clock was ticking, a ball released into the hands of Freddie Cracknell (14) who ran hard towards the TW player, before releasing a sublime pass out of the back to Mike Odzilli (8/capt) to run hard into the corner, taking on 3/ 4 TW players all with the intent of taking him out of play. Mike scored in the corner 24-29, conversion missed… the whistle blew to bring the game to a close and so the celebrations started….

FT – 24-29 ……. 5 very well deserved points (win + try bonus)…..

Every player came close to being nominated, but Man of the Match was awarded to Andrew Fadera(6) for his strong tackling, destructive running and passion!