CAMP HILL 1ST XV vs STAFFORD 1ST XV. 14TH DECEMBER 2019. LEAGUE MATCH.

Stafford took the long journey to the south of the countries second city for the last away game of the year against Camp Hill. “The Shrine” has been a barren hunting ground for the travellers over the years, with the best recent result being a 34-12 loss back in the 2013/14 season. Soggy ground conditions and minorly plummeting temperatures welcomed the players to the game.

The Camp Hill onslaught was unleashed from the dying tone of the opening whistle. The weighty pack of home side forwards providing the battering ram to drive over for the first try of the afternoon. Stafford competed hard but scrappy possession disrupted any fluency being built. A Camp Hill catch and drive piled over the line for a second home side try. Some tenacious Stafford play grabbed a small reward through a penalty, Christian Ureche putting the first points on the board for the visiting team. Stafford were pushing hard to respond and Camp Hill waited for any opportunity. A couple of subsequent penalty kicks added to a growing home side lead. The game remained competitive but nothing the visiting XV attempted found much success. Two further tries from the bulky Camp Hill forwards took the bonus point creating a sizeable score line. A yellow card temporarily reduced Stafford to fourteen and the afternoon got worse when Dan Smith had to leave the pitch with an injury. Stafford dug in and Camp Hill couldn’t find their way past a belligerent defence as the visitors refused to give up any more ground. A late yellow card reduced Camp Hill down to fourteen to even the teams up as the time dwindled away. Stafford went into half time trailing by 32-3 in what was becoming another difficult afternoon at “the Shrine”.

With a full XV back on the pitch Stafford returned to the field with their heads high. An early yellow card disrupted half time plans by reducing the team back down to a temporary fourteen and a further Camp Hill try added to the visiting woes. Stafford rediscovered their rhythm and some punishing phases of running rugby propelled Camp Hill backwards to defend their own line. A couple of bone crunching assaults couldn’t find a way through the embedded meaty defence. It took a spiralling kick from Ben Burrows to float across the line for a charging Ben Chatfield to catch and ground for a try. As Stafford were restored to a full XV on the pitch, Camp Hill were temporarily reduced by one as the referee wielded the fourth yellow of the afternoon. The hosts were defending hard but a testing run by Taraiasi Wara stretched one wing and the ball flew through the hands for Sefanaia Bulumakau to brush off the opposition for a try on the opposite side of the field. Camp Hill responded with some threatening rugby but the scavenging Stafford forwards broke up the play. The hosts switched to a passing game which started to make some territory. A slightly long pass was intercepted by a prowling Carl Williams who tore away to run over half the length of the pitch for a lung busting try, converted by Louis Dewsbury. A Camp Hill penalty put three more points on the board for the home side, but they were having to live on some meagre periods of possession. The game looked to be dwindling towards an exhausting close with both teams having given their all. A final play from Stafford saw the whole team working to drive the ball down the pitch through a mixture of crashing forward play and running backs. The Camp Hill defence was turned inside out, allowing Jerry Qasenivalu to cross the line for the final try of the afternoon and a well-earned bonus point. The referees whistle immediately signalled the end of the game from which Stafford should be proud of the manner in which they supported each other as a team over the full eighty minutes.