Mothers Day Mauling by Stroud

Task master Jenks wasn’t able to attend today so the kids breathed a sigh of relief and went through some light warm ups with Mark and Russell. Mark wasn’t made to pay any penalties for his failure last weekend in the Tetbury Army assault course agility test. The team had agreed that a more useful penalty was to again volunteer to take Keyan to another away game and put up with the constant “are we there yet” and “I need another mars bar”. What happened to museli and toast for breakfast ?

Stroud were back to a full strength team with Arthur back from injury and Finn, Flash and Dash available again so plenty of subs available to rotate in fresh legs when needed.

Could Stroud get revenge for Widden beating them in the County Cup a few months ago? It was always going to be a tough game against a big strong Gloucester team that had been playing well throughout the season. A rousing team talk from Jo got the intensity levels up and everyone knew the importance of winning the first contact and imposing ourselves onto this game quickly.

Game 1

The game started fairly evenly with Stroud and Widden taking it in turns to attack through both the forward packs and back division. Keyan was keeping the big Widden pack under control with well timed tackles. The backs were also contributing when needed with Alex and Arthur both putting in good tackles to stop promising Widden attacks.

Stroud were starting to find their feet and Dave had a good attack down the right wing. Widden were very strong in the tackles though and kept denying Stroud. At the break down it was also a hard fought contest with both teams bringing extra support into the rucks were needed – Liam being especially aggressive in the clearouts.

Widden were recycling the ball well through their forwards. Stoner was having none of this and managed to in 1 move do a legal tip tackle and then win the turnover. Another Stroud attack started through Will H, Dave and Arthur but was stopped by a penalty infringement. Will H kicked for touch but just missed and Widden recovered the ball and kicked it back. Stroud picked up the ball though and ran it back. Will H offloaded the ball in the tackle to keep the move going. The ball came back round to the right with Dave making up a lot of ground. Just as he was running out of options he saw Arthur supporting on the inside and a quick pass set up Arthur for a run to the centre to score the first try.

In a first for Stroud we were then invited to kick the conversion because we were on the first team pitch and full size posts available. Showing no nerves Will walked up and calmly slotted it through the centre to give Stroud a 7-0 lead.

At the resulting kick off Liam caught the ball and ran it back well with support from Stoner. Widden somehow got a turnover and attacked themselves only to be denied by a strong Finn tackle. Widden kept the pressure on though and good tackling by Stoner, Laurie and Tom O kept them at bay.

Widden realised they would have to go through their backs due to Stroud's strong forward play but this nearly mis-fired as Arthur intercepted a pass and ran it back down the right wing. The other backs quickly supported and set up another attacking phase. Widden stopped this though and attacked themselves. Now pinned back in their own half Stroud kept defending and with another Stoner influenced turnover the ball came out to Will H who kicked long to relieve the pressure. Widden then kicked it out of bounds and the half time whistle went with Stroud leading by a single try.

Stroud brought on a number of subs for the 2nd half but there was to be no drop off in intensity. The forwards now with Jed and Will T on the pitch were still playing really well. At a scrum the ball came out and Tom H at scrum half delivered a perfect pass out to the backs. Archie E took it on and then passed it onto Sam on the wing. Sam was tackled high and a penalty was given. Somehow Will H managed to kick it long and the ball bounced out near to the Widden try line.

It was Stroud's turn to put pressure on the Widden defence. Repeated attacks were repelled until their was a turn over that gave Widden the chance to kick deep. Finn fielded the ball well and ran it back. Dave got a pass and ran to the right. Widden turned the ball over though and started their own attack but Will T put in a great tackle. As Stroud attacked back play was stopped for a high Widden tackle. A quick tap penalty and next thing you know Liam was rampaging down the left flank with Widden players just bouncing off him. Somehow he kept himself in play and managed to touch down for Stroud's 2nd try. Another kicked conversion by Will made it 14-0.

At the next kick-off Widden went deep. Will H called loudly and caught the ball cleanly and went on his own mazy run. He ran up the middle and then cut onto the left wing. Just as we thought he had scored a try a desperate Widden tackle denied him and forced a foot onto the line before he touched down in the corner. As our resident rules expert parent Sam was heard to comment that the tackle was too high and the try should have counted.

Stroud won the lineout though and the ball came back to Dash who ran it back up the blind-side and got right upto the Widden line. Somehow he was held up and next thing you know Widden were running it out themselves to the left. Tom O had drifted across to help with the tackling and in an inspired bit of play was so close to intercepting a pass. The ball bobbled and he juggled it but it fell out of play. At the lineout it was Liam's turn to steal it. Tom H sent the ball out into the backs and it came through a few pairs of hands before Dave scampered into the left corner for another try. Another excellent conversion gave us a 21-0 lead.

Kick off practice was really paying off because this time it was Will T’s turn to catch and run back. Dave took the ball on and made more yardage. Widden were still tackling ferociously and getting their own turnovers. They had their own attacks and just as we thought they had broken through a classic Arthur rip tackle gave him the ball and he attacked himself and then offloaded to Dave who sprinted down the left to score another try. Another conversion kick and 28-0 lead was ours. The full time whistle went and a mesmorising game was ours. Only half way though as Widden were bound to be up for revenge in the next game.

Final Score: Widden 0 – 28 Stroud

2nd game

Scrum half Flash was back for the 2nd game and replaced Tom H who had played a great opening game. Flash was sporting a new gum shield from JD Sports. How Jim had moulded it to Flash’s teeth with no boiling water we’ll never know. Then we realised he had probably re-arranged Archie’s teeth to fit the rigid gum shield. I’m sure the dentist trip on Monday will be worth it if we win the 2nd game!

Widden kicked off and Keyan caught the ball and ran it all the way back down the left wing to score an immediate try. Now that’s a way to put your stamp on the game! Will H was getting more and more confident with his conversions and was taking the ball back deeper and deeper. In this case he just missed the kick so it was a 5-0 lead to Stroud. More importantly for Keyan it was Keyan £1 - Dad Jon 0.

Another well recovered kick by Stroud gave the ball out to the backs again. James had a good run and passed it to Jed. Jed started to go on a rumbling attack and just as we thought he was going to be dragged down he threw a lovely spiral pass out to Will H. We now know who our 3rd scrum half is and he’s 6ft tall and has long curly hair and size 10 boots!

The ball came back inside and play slowed up. Stroud forwards won the breakdown and the ball came out to Jed again. This time he showed the other part to his game and he went off on a great long run with Widden players bouncing off him. Just as we thought he had gone for a 40 yard try he got called back for handing off. Its not his fault the Widden tacklers were at least 8” shorter than him! During this phase of play Will H had to go off with a head injury so the back line was re-organised again with Dave stepping up to play number 10 again.

Widden took advantage of the Stroud re-organisation and attacked hard, deep into the Stroud half. Laurie made a desperate attempt to stop the player but was correctly called for a high tackle – even Mum Sam couldn’t defend our boys for that decision! At the penalty Widden quickly tapped it and ran straight up the middle for an easy try. The resultant conversion was missed and score tied at 5-5.

Dave kicked off and Stroud chased hard to win the ball. The ball came out to Arthur via James and he was pushed out of bounds on the left flank. Stroud again won the lineout and Flash spun the ball out to Dave who ran into the centre and scored. He then kicked his own conversion to make it 12-5 to Stroud.

Widden were well up for this game though and relentlessly attacked for the next few minutes. Only more rip tackles by Arthur and Stoner held them at bay. Widden attacked down the left and had an overlap and were unfortunate to knock on. The hard Stroud tackling though had definitely got into their heads though so they were half looking for the pass and half looking for the Stroud tackler.

Stroud were doing really well in the scrums throughout both matches. They would normally win their own and quite often would put in a great shove and put pressure on the Widden scrum half with Flash then spoiling their passes out the backs.

In the next phase of play Stroud won a scrum and Dave kicked long for touch. At the resultant line out Jed did great to catch the ball and set up another attacking play. Archie E playing at centre ran well and was well supported by Sam. Another penalty to Stroud meant a long Dave kick for touch. Half time whistle went with Stroud still in the lead at 12-5.

The 2nd half started with a Dave kick off and a strong Widden run back. Keyan was strong in the tackle and forced them to set up another ruck. The ball came out to the Widden backs but both Alex and Dave were quick to put the pressure on and force a turnover. The ball came to Keyan and he ran up the left. The next few plays were dominated by the defensive pressure. Stroud won another lineout and the ball came out to Dave who ran it to the right corner and dived for the try. He too tried a long conversion and was unlucky to miss. 17-5 to Stroud.

It was now Dash’s turn to catch a kick off and run it back. He was stopped by a good tackle and it was now Widden's turn to attack. They were deep in Stroud’s half but resolute defending kept Widden out. Stroud won another scrum and the ball came out to Alex. He kicked long but the Widden back ran back for it and then set off on his own mazy run. He ran right and then cut back to the left and scored in the corner. Old Widden kicked the conversion to keep the game very close at 17-12, Could Stroud hang on or would Widden snatch victory with another try? Will H had recovered from his injury so came back on to help close out the game.

Both teams were really attacking and defending strongly knowing that 1 mistake could decide the game. At a Widden lineout Stroud got a hand on it and just as the ball was going back out of play Tom O (aka scrum half reserve #4) grabbed it and spun a beautiful pass back inside to the backs. The ball eventually found its way to Dave and he ran back to the right and scored in the right corner. Will H took back kicking duty and kicked another good conversion to make it 24-12.

That gave Stroud the breathing room they needed. They did more great defensive work with Widden right on the Stroud line and were determined to not give up another try. Somehow the Widden forwards and backs were continually denied from touching down. The full time whistle went and Stroud had won again.

Final Score: Widden 12 – 24 Stroud

Tunnels were formed and both teams congratulated each other for a hard fought exciting morning rugby. Happy Mothers Day to the Mum’s who watched that! Much better than flowers, chocolates and wine!

Final Score: Widden Old Boys 12 – 52 Stroud Young Men

In keeping up with the Stroud First XV we had put up 50+ points against a strong team – helped by the excitement of in-match try conversions.

Everyone huddled together and the coaches had praise for everyone because it was another strong team performance with forwards and backs contributing equally.

Forwards Man-of-the-Match: Stoner for great tackling and turnovers
Backs Man-of-the-Match: Will H for controlling the game and kicking the conversions

Lets hope this great Stroud form continues for our next game home against Minch. We’ve certainly got the all round game play and confidence to extract revenge on Minch. Come on boys you can do it…….

Me and Alex will miss the Minch game so if anyone wants to volunteer to do match report and give Mark a rest please step forward.