Avonmouth Old Boys 29

Stroud 24

THIS was yet another tense, enthralling encounter writes Sean Moore.

Stroud held the upper hand, particularly with their powerful scrum, but Avonmouth were slightly more productive when the ball went wide; they had a sprightly set of half backs and two powerful, straight running centres who took a lot of stopping and frequently breached the Stroud defence.

Stroud took the lead when, after extended pressure, they out scrummed the Bristol side and, following several phases, Sam Leworthy powered over the line near the posts. Kurtis Herbert converted, 0-7. Avonmouth equalized fairly soon afterwards with a try and a penalty goal, 7-12.

Stroud were, however, able to capitalize on their forward power and this led to Dan Gordon throwing out one of his trademark miss passes, creating space for winger Jordan Phipps who cleverly eluded his marker to score a great try in the corner, 12-12.

In front of a large home crowd Avonmouth upped the pressure and at this stage some excellent tackling, particularly by Sykes, Davies and Phipps kept them at bay.

Stroud then staged a thrilling comeback. They turned over ball at the scrum on halfway; Joe Hoyle harried his opposite number enabling him to kick and chase the ball for over fifty metres to score a brilliant try near the posts. Herbert converted, 12-19. Stroud were now in full flight and, following yet another turnover ball from the scrum, Herbert made a break and passed out to Sykes. He was penned in near the touchline but somehow managed to beat the existing cover and set about running fifty metres to score in the corner, just outpacing the Avonmouth defence. Sykes seems to have developed another gear and poses a threat whenever he gets the ball.

With five minutes to go before the break Stroud were looking very comfortable at 15-24 but they crucially lost concentration and conceded two tries, 29-24.

In the second half, with a slight slope in their favour, Stroud made many attacks but were unable to score despite the good ball produced by the pack.

Stroud’s team all played their part and special mention goes to the front row of Fruin, Davies and Stratton. Veteran second row James Bashford used all his guile and experience to maximize the effect of the pack, particularly at the lineout and in the mauls. He was abetted by Rob Higgins who, as usual, had a very influential game. Newcomer Joe Keatley played his part and showed a good appetite for the fray.

Stroud had to be content with two points and will look forward to meeting Cheltenham next week.