Tough Win against a big side

going into this game we knew it would be a tough game as Basingstoke were getting better and bigger as the seasons go on. So with a strong "Purple" squad we knew it would be tough but not as tough as we found it that's for sure.
It started off well with Matt B scoring a well worked try but was unable to convert it from the angle. 5 minutes later Ash scored a good try out on the wing (Yep you heard me!) into the corner to make it 0-10 to Trojans. This was Ash first game of the season after being out with injury since the beginning of it. However Stoke were competing well in the rucks and drove us off most of them and started to put more pressure on us and came back with a well worked try in the corner using their strong inside centre. Again some good work from the backs kept probing at the Stoke defence but it was Stoke who broke through again to score another try through their backs to make it 10-15 to Trojans with only 3 minutes to play in the first half. We kicked off and it landed well into the Stoke 22 and with more pressure from us the ball came out of the ruck 10 meters from the Stoke line and Holden ran with it and gave a lovely "show and go" to score the last try of the half.

Half time
Basingstoke 10 Trojans 20

At half time I let the boys know that if we did not make the tackles then Stoke could win this game. A few subs at half time to rest a few of the players and give the subs a chance to contribute and hopefully give that extra bit of energy we needed to kick start the second half.

As soon as Stoke kicked off they put us under a lot of pressure and kept winning the ground work balls and drove us not just off the ball but that and beyond, using their big forwards well. With only 3 minutes into the second half Stoke scored and scored twice again 8 minutes later and then another 5 minutes after that to have them leading 25-20 with only 9 minutes on the clock left in the second half. We knew now that we were up against it and Rodrigo received the ball in our half and ran and kept running through the gaps and was "Encouraged" by all his team mates and supporters to put it under the posts as we knew this game could be won with on a couple of points in it. This he did and gave Lucas a easier opportunity than Matt B had 4 times earlier to convert Rodrigos try and now make it 25-27 to Trojans with only 3 minutes left to play. However a big run from Stokes inside centre was on for a clear winning try only to be tackled hard by Mikey R to ensure this result was going to go our way. Then in the dyeing seconds of the game Oli C was able to secure the ball after dribbling it half way down the pitch only seconds earlier and used his pace to out run all the Stokes defence to score in the left hand corner to make it 25-32 with the attempted but failed conversion being the last kick of the game.

Final score
Basingstoke 25 Trojans 32

A tougher than we expected game and a game that kept us all on our toes throughout the entire 50 minutes of it, but a well deserved win by a mixed squad who most have not played together for some time and a couple have only just started playing for Trojans this season.

Points to take away are we need to work on our ground work and also our tackles. However a great team performance with no superstars just team mates that want to play rugby and enjoy playing as a team. Also good to see 5 different try scorers getting on the score sheet.

This just shows that every team is getting tougher and tougher to beat and no teams are a dead certain. Also if you play as a team you win as a team.

Team
Thomas
Euan - captain
Ash
Tyler
Tommy
Holden
Mike
Ed
Ben P
Matt B
Ollie C
Ollie J
Dara
Rodrigo
Lucas
Alfie
Aaron
Sammy
Mattis

Scorers
Matt B 5 points
Ash 5 points
Rodrigo 10 points
Holden 5 points
Ollie C 5 points
Lucas 2 points

Mike