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       #Post#: 11312--------------------------------------------------
       Bishops STORTFORD match report 
   DIR By: Rucko
       Date: October 20, 2024, 1:53 am
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       Great 5 point away win for Stortford to break Rotherham’s
       unbeaten record stretching back to the season before last.
       The visitors started like a train and were a converted try ahead
       within 5 minutes, after Rotherham were turned over close to
       halfway and quick ball to Alex Gilham put the winger into open
       space, with one pass inside to Chris Bolton seeing the scrumhalf
       under the posts, giving Mike Cooke an easy conversion. The home
       side struck back almost immediately, with powerful thrusts from
       two of their big forwards making inroads, eventually setting up
       centre, Jamie Cooke for an unconverted try. They were quickly
       rocked, however with 3 more converted tries to Stortford in the
       next 15 minutes to bring up the bonus point. The first went to
       Jack Biard, exploiting a big gap in their midfield to swerve
       outside his opposite number and sprint in from 30 metres. Roth.
       countered with a penalty goal but, straight from the restart,
       Will Rogers swooped for an opportunist try, as the home side
       were slow to support as their catcher laid the ball back clear
       of the tackle area and the number 8 was the first to react,
       hacking on and collecting the bouncing ball to canter in for the
       try. The fourth try came from a penalty try for an illegal
       challenge on Cooke, as he caught the opposition flat-footed to
       run at the line from a position created by his own 50-22 kick.
       Stortford were now rampant and it took a last ditch tackle to
       stop Tom Mills scoring in the corner 3 minutes later, but the
       home side’s respite lasted only 2 minutes, as Rogers went in for
       his second try, after David Hayes ran back a Rotherham kick
       through the heart of the home defence, with Alex Rayment
       (unfortunately getting injured in the process) providing the
       link to his skipper. Cooke maintained his 100% record off the
       tee to move his side 27 points ahead, but the team had to finish
       the half with a fantastic defensive stint, as Rotherham’s
       powerful pack hurled itself repeatedly at the try line,
       producing a series of 5 m lineouts. Stortford dug deep, making
       tackle after tackle and finally ended the danger when Ollie
       Jones made a clean steal of another 5m lineout.
       The second half was a very different affair, with Stortford now
       the side under pressure, particularly at scrum time, conceding a
       number of penalties at the set piece, but adding to their
       challenges with several, sometimes unforced offences in open
       play. The home side, clearly stung by the drubbing they’d taken
       in the first half took full advantage, exerting enormous
       pressure and repeatedly testing Stortford’s still resolute
       defence. This resulted in a stream of red zone penalties,
       numerous 5 metre lineouts and two yellow cards, which
       overlapped, meaning that the visitors were reduced for the
       second week in a row to 13 men for a period. The second came
       after the home side repeatedly took scrums from penalties, with
       the Stortford pack, already under pressure, naturally unable to
       cope with only 7 forwards. Rotherham pulled back three tries,
       but Stortford’s staunch defence meant that they had to work
       extremely hard for them, running 33 minutes off the clock, with
       another Cooke penalty goal in the meantime, leaving his side
       27-38 ahead. Shortly afterwards, a Rotherham forward was carded
       for going into contact, leading with a high forearm and , with
       his team now running out of time, they made a crucial handling
       error, trying to run the ball out of their own 22. Tom Mills
       seized on the loose ball to tap it ahead and regather for an
       easy try, again converted by Cooke. The home side was down, but
       not out and they fought back in typically robust fashion to end
       the game with a forwards’ try close to the post and a final
       score of 34-45.
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