By Sean Moore

Stroud...................................18

Chosen Hill..........................30

CHOSEN Hill took control of proceedings at Stroud but the home side showed signs of improvement.

A more forceful display by the pack and accurate catching from veteran and man of the match James Bashford were just two of the points to take out of the game- and if cutting out the amount of interceptions they gave away, success could be around the corner.

The scrums were good but it was Chosen Hill who had a little more composure, emanating mainly from their highly competent number ten. Critically they also made fewer unforced errors.

Cheered on by a lively group of supporters, Chosen Hill made an excellent start and regained their own kick-off which led to their winger squeezing over in the corner.

The game was disrupted by a number of high tackles and when Stroud were on the attack, Chosen Hill gained an interception to score under the posts.

Stroud fought back with Sam Leworthy being prominent in both defence and attack, again showing his great ability to recapture kicks ahead. Dan Gordon and Regan Herbert interpassed to produce a quality period of play near the Chosen Hill line and Joe Ashenford was always a danger with his looping, evasive runs.

Stroud won a lineout which led to a trademark catch and drive try with Matt Hunt emerging with the ball after the forwards had driven over the line.

Further attacking play saw a scrum ball being fed to Sam Hester who cleverly disguised a short pass to the accelerating Dan Gordon who sliced through the defence.

Joe Ashenford converted and the scores were levelled at 12-12 and the game could have gone either way.

Chosen Hill regained the lead with a penalty goal as Jordan Phipps made an incisive run across field before being felled by yet another high tackle.

From the resulting penalty, Sam Hester took sight of the posts 45 metres away and magnificently slotted home a long-range penalty to make the game even (15-15).

Shortly after half-time Chosen Hill took full advantage of yet another loose pass which allowed them to score in the corner.

But the lead was cut to two by Hester with another penalty goal.

Stroud won the ball but this time failed to score as Chosen Hill converted one of their lineouts into a try (18-25).

Their last effort to secure a point were undermined when they gifted another ball enabling Chosen Hill to score in the corner and the final score was 18-30.