Club News

11 October 2008: London 2 North

Stevenage Town 12 -12 Chingford

Stevenage Town will be rueing their failure to close down this game and secure their third league win of the season. With just a few minutes remaining, Town held a 12 -9 lead and were camped in the Chingford 22. The home side needed to retain possession and wind down the clock but instead they lost the ball, lost ground and gave away a penalty, from which Chingford levelled the score.

One point was little reward for a performance that saw Stevenage out score their opponents by two tries to nil and for all their energy and slick running, Chingford had only one period of sustained pressure on the Stevenage line and rarely looked like scoring a try.

Chingford did however make maximum use of the penalties awarded to them with fly half Bond kicking all three attempts and adding a further three points from a drop goal as he kept his side in the game. Stevenage were by some distance on the wrong end of the penalty count and again had two men sent to the sin bin. This is a continuing trend that must be a cause of concern for Town.

Chingford dominated the early exchanges as they made use of a series of penalties and gradually gained ground from the resulting line outs. Stevenage's first sin bin came as early as the eighth minute, with hooker Tavita Faamausili the perpetrator. Shortly afterwards, Bond kicked Chingford into the lead with the first of his penalties.

Stevenage gradually took control of the forward battle but were unable to make maximum use of the possession as they were continually penalised by the referee and were also guilty of a number of handling errors.

Chingford looked impressive in possession but they were restricted by good defence from Stevenage, especially centres Peter Smith and Nick Lacey and the back row of Pearson, Jack Golds and Gareth Roberts and they were unable to make any significant ground. Even the enforced replacement after 29 minutes of flanker Golds with Alex Willcox, who usually plays in the centre, had no affect on proceedings as Willcox adjusted well to his new position.

This resulted in something of a stalemate until just before the half time whistle, when Ian Crompton playing at scrum half made a decisive break from inside his own half, which lead to the first of three penalties on the Chingford five metre line, with Town opting for the scrum each time. It was almost inevitable that either Stevenage would score or the referee would award a penalty try and flanker Phil Pearson scored the try, which gave the home side a half time lead of 5 -3.

The second half followed the pattern of the first. Town almost extended their lead when full back Gareth Lewis kicked through but he put too much on the final kick and the ball went dead before he was able to touch it down.

Chingford regained the lead with a second Bond penalty in the 55^th minute, when Stevenage failed to deal with a high kick ahead and he extended the lead ten minutes later with an excellent drop goal from 30 metres.

It didn't take Stevenage long to regain the lead and in the 69^th minute, Faamausili scored his third try of the season when he completed a move from the front of a line out. Kyle Lemon converted the try from wide out on the touch line.

Stevenage looked to be in control and heading for victory, despite Adam Amos being sent to the sin bin with six minutes to go. Sadly in was not to be as Chingford equalled the score with Bond's final penalty of the afternoon.

Coach Terry Penny was pleased with his team's overall performance, which he described as “solid” and certainly an improvement on the previous week.

Team: Gareth Lewis, Kyle Lemon, Peter Smith, Nick Lacey (Owen Hughes 72 mins), Michael Wilson, Gary Trewartha, Ian Crompton, Barry Cook, Tavita Faamausili, Neil Bamber, Adam Amos, Richard Penny, Phil Pearson, Gareth Roberts, Jack Golds (Alex Willcox 29 mins)

Subs: All Used,   Rod Else, Alex Willcox, Owen Hughes

Scorers:          Tries    Phil Pearson

                                    Tavita Faamausili

                        Conv:   Kyle Lemon

Other Results:             Stevenage Town 2 XV 27 - 22 Old Ashmolean 2 XV

                                    Harpenden 3 XV 35 -14 Stevenage Town 3 XV

4 October 2008: London 2 North

Diss 38 - 17 Stevenage Town

Diss maintained their 100% league record with a convincing win over a very disappointing Stevenage side, scoring five tries to the visitor's three.

Despite Stevenage dominating the forward set pieces, pushing the Diss pack back and disrupting clean ball, the Diss backs took advantage of poor communication and inadequate positional play by the Stevenage back line to create tries through overlaps and poor first up tackles.

This was the general theme of the first half which was compounded by a lack of accuracy with the ball in hand leaving Town regretting missed opportunities. Indeed, if Stevenage had continued where they left off last week and taken their scoring opportunities early in the game, the score would have been very different.

As it was, by half time, Diss had scored all five of their tries and converted each one. The sole Stevenage response was a try by hooker Tavita Faamausili from a move at the front of a line out.

Diss winger Bliss had an exceptional afternoon scoring four tries as he and his team mates exploited the gaps created by strong, straight running and good passing.

Diss had an unassailable lead of 35 -5 at the interval .

Changes were made at half time with Nick Lacey making his debut in the centre and Peter Smith taking over on the right wing.

The second half saw Town play a more disciplined, tighter game with the forwards exerting their influence and using their domination to slow the flow of clean ball to Diss thereby stopping them from increasing the score. The home side was restricted to a single penalty in the second half as Town played more into the opposition half frustrating their players and creating more opportunities.

This frustration came to a head when the Diss prop, Richards was sent to the sin bin for persistent offside.

Stevenage replied with two tries of their own in the second half. No 8 Gareth Roberts touched down from a pushover scrum underlining the dominance of the Stevenage pack. The try was converted by Gareth Lewis.

The final score of the afternoon came from centre Alex Willcox, who finished off a period of Stevenage pressure by bursting through to touch down near the corner.

The forwards came off having proved themselves the better pack, with notable games being played by the back row of Phil Pearson, Gareth Roberts and especially Iain Penny, who returned for his first game of the season.

Stevenage paid a heavy price for the mistakes that were made early in the game and came away in the knowledge that they must reduce these errors if they are to compete in this league.

Team: Gareth Lewis, Ian Crompton (Peter Smith 40 mins), Kyle Lemon (Nick Lacey 40 mins), Alex Willcox, Michael Wilson, Gary Trewartha, Gareth Wall, Barry Cook (Andrew Boyle 65 mins), Tavita Faamausili, Neil Bamber, Adam Amos, Richard Penny, Phil Pearson, Gareth Roberts, Iain Penny

Scorers:          Tries    Tavita Faamausili

                                    Gareth Roberts

                                    Alex Willcox

                        Conv:   Gareth Lewis

27 September 2008: London 2 North

Eton Manor 3 -24 Stevenage Town

Stevenage Town responded in the best way to defeat the previous week with an impressive performance against Eton Manor.

Town absolutely dominated both possession and territory in the first half but found it difficult to break down a dogged Eton Manor defence. The visitors were guilty of not finishing a couple of good opportunities and not taking advantage of the extra man, when the home captain, Twydell was sent to the sin bin half way through the half.

It was not until the 30^th minute that Town decided to go for goal from a penalty opportunity, having run the previous kicks and Gareth Lewis slotted home the kick for a 3 -0 lead.

Six minutes later and resulting from practically the only excursion into the Stevenage half of the game so far, Eton Manor levelled the scores from a penalty by Gorman.

It looked that after all the possession and pressure from Stevenage that they would be going into the interval all square until Michael Wilson found the pace to steam into the Eton Manor 22 and from the resultant possession, the ball was moved quickly wide to full back Lewis coming into the line to score a fine try. Lewis converted his own try to give Town a deserved lead of 10 -3 at the interval.

Stevenage continued to have the better possession in the second half, but the home team became more adventurous as they chased the game and this made for a more open game giving Town more running opportunities.

Stevenage survived a period of ten minutes themselves with a man short when No 8 Gareth Roberts was sent to the sin bin for the second consecutive week for killing a ball at a ruck.

Town gradually exerted their control over the game with Tavita Faamausili lively in the loose play and youngster Tom Meller having an influential game both in terms of his tackle count and ball carrying.

Indeed it was Meller who extended the lead when he finished off an excellent move involving firstly a superb break by Gary Trewartha, then Kyle Lemon and finally Ian Crompton broke the cover defence before feeding inside to Meller, who was in support to complete the try. Lewis added the conversion.

The Stevenage backs looked dangerous as they moved the ball swiftly and at pace, making in-roads into an increasingly stretched Eton Manor defence. Kyle Lemon and Gareth Lewis were prominent in leading the attack and from a great run by Lemon, Town sealed victory as he passed to Wilson to score a third well-executed try of the game for the visitors. The try was converted by Lewis to leave the final score 24 -3 in favour of Stevenage.

This was a very good performance from Town. They continued to press hard in the first half despite being unable to breach the home defence until almost half time. In the second half, as Eton Manor chased the game, Stevenage were able to exploit the chances given to them to run and a constant supply of possession from the hard working forwards allowed the backs to move with more purpose than they have shown so far this season.

Stevenage are in unchartered waters as far as playing at this level is concerned and with two wins out of the first three games, they have made a very satisfactory start.

Team: Gareth Lewis, Ian Crompton (Peter Smith 71 mins), Kyle Lemon, Alex Willcox, Michael Wilson, Gary Trewartha, Gareth Wall (Owen Hughes 79 mins), Barry Cook, Tavita Faamausili, Neil Bamber, Adam Amos, Richard Penny, Phil Pearson, Gareth Roberts, Tom Meller

Sub not used: Jack Golds

Scorers:          Tries    Gareth Lewis

                                    Tom Meller

                                    Michael Wilson

                        Conv:   Gareth Lewis (3)

                        Pen:     Gareth Lewis

20 September 2008: London 2 North

Stevenage Town 17 -25 Civil Service

Two weeks into the new league season and Stevenage Town continue to find their way in London 2 North.

Saturday's defeat saw Stevenage learn a number of important lessons against a side that will be expecting to be pushing for promotion next April. Despite this, at no time were Town over-awed by their more experienced opponents, who were relegated from London 1 last season and Stevenage were in contention right up to the end of the match.

It looked ominous for Town when Civil Service took the lead after only two minutes when scrum half Cummings broke through some weak tackling to score under the posts. The try was converted.

Stevenage showed great resilience and fought their way back into the game with a period of sustained pressure. They had their reward in the 7^th minute, when following two penalties, prop Barry Cook drove over to reduce the deficit to two points.

At this point, Town had the better of the possession but Civil Service always looked very dangerous when they did have the ball. From one such foray into the Town half, they were awarded a penalty, which was kicked to extend their lead to 10 -5.

Stevenage continued to fight back and executed an excellent move involving Ian Crompton, Adam Amos and Phil Pearson resulting in a penalty near the right corner flag. Town opted for the scrum and contrived to make a hash of the ball allowing Civil Service to break quickly and No 8 Gareth Roberts was sent to the sin bin for handling in the ruck.

From the penalty, Civil Service pressurised the Stevenage line but full back Gareth Lewis seized an opportunity for a quick break and kick ahead, which was gathered by Ian Crompton and he ran in to score under the posts. The conversion by Lewis saw Town take the lead 12 -10.

Almost immediately afterwards, Michael Wilson gathered another kick ahead and made forty yards before being stopped just short of the Civil Service try line.

This period of Stevenage domination was finally rewarded in the 32^nd minute, when Barry Cook drove over for his second try of the match. At half time, Town were leading 17 -10.

With a seven point lead and the prospect of playing down the slope in the second half, Stevenage were in a good position. However, as Civil Service showed the week before, they are strong in the second half and within seven minutes of the restart they had wiped out the deficit when Cummings scored his second try of the match, which was converted.

The second half was dominated by Civil Service as they played controlled rugby and gave a lesson in how to carry the ball, make ground and recycle possession. Town had only one clear cut opportunity early in the second half when they were camped on the Civil Service try line. The referee blew and many of the spectators felt he had given a penalty try for killing the ball, but he decided to send Stevenage flanker Phil Pearson to the sin bin for use of the boot.

Town competed well for the rest of the half, but never really had enough possession to make an impact, as Civil Service controlled the game. In the 64^th minute, they took the lead from another penalty when Cook was caught offside from a hack ahead. The game was put beyond the reach of the home side in the 75^th minute when the Civil Service hooker, Gore finished a planned move at the front of a Civil Service line out.

Just before the final whistle, the Civil Service centre McKay, who had been lively all afternoon was sent to the sin bin for taking out a Stevenage player off the ball. By then it was all too late.

Despite the defeat, there were many positive points for Stevenage and a number of learning points. The pack competed well and generally had the better of the exchanges. 19 year old Tom Meller is improving with every game and gave an excellent performance. Gareth Lewis was influential and Town looked dangerous when they were able to move the ball wide.

Team: Gareth Lewis, Ian Crompton, Kyle Lemon, Alex Willcox, Gary Trewartha, Michael Wilson, Gareth Wall, Barry Cook, Tavita Faamausili, Neil Bamber, Adam Amos, Richard Penny, Tom Meller, Gareth Roberts, Phil Pearson

Subs: Not used,  Ed Burrell, Bryan Bagnall, Chris Wilson

Scorers:          Tries    Barry Cook (2)

                                    Ian Crompton

                        Conv: Gareth Lewis

Other Results:           Hampstead 2 XV 22 -19 Stevenage Town 2 XV

                                    Stevenage Town 3 XV v Harrow 2 XV -Match Cancelled

Last chance to enter the Inaugural STRFC 100 Club Draw which will take place this coming Saturday at 7.30 in the Club House.

To enter, simply complete the application form (in the STRFC 100 Club Folder, Left) and Return to the Clubhouse with payment before Saturday.

Alternatively you may enter at the Bar on Tuesday and Thursday training nights between 6.30 and 8.30pm

50% of the Income will be paid out as cash prizes (1st 25% -2nd 15% and 3rd 10%) the Balance will be used to improve the Clubs facilities for all members. 

Town overall had the majority of the possession as their forwards worked hard and got the better of their opponents, but Tring always looked sharper and  quicker in attack and they exploited some more woeful tackling from the Stevenage defence.

Stevenage played into the wind and rain in the first half and they started brightly, working their way up field and failing to capitalise on some good possessions through poor handling, with two passes dropped in the middle of the field. Tring however, showed how dangerous they can be when they scored from  their first attack in the tenth minute, when they created an overlap and scored in the corner.

That proved to be the only score of the half, which was dominated by Stevenage. Despite the possession, they were unable to create any try scoring opportunities, as they moved the ball slowly in attack. It wasn't until the last ten minutes of the game that the Town backs showed what they can do when they did move the ball wide at pace and created a couple of potential try scoring opportunities. If they had done this much earlier in the proceedings, there may well have been a different scoreline.

The second half was much like the first, except that Tring showed their superior pace in attack from the limited opportunities given to them. They were assisted by a series of missed tackles, which allowed them to make more ground than they should have. After converting a couple of penalties, the home side scored an excellent try in the sixty-fifth minute when they made the most of quick ball, used a miss move in the centre and scored close to the posts.

Town continued to be undaunted and within two minutes had scored an excellent try of their own. Gareth Lewis moved the ball wide to makeshift winger Ed Burrell, who made ground, took the tackle and popped the ball back to Lewis following up to score.

It was now that Stevenage decided to move the ball at pace and they created a couple of more good try scoring opportunities that the Tring defence did well to stop. However, Tring showed their superiority and had the last word as they scored a third try at the death when their No 8 waltzed through the Stevenage defence to score under the posts.

Team: Gareth Lewis, Ed Burrell, Peter Smith (Gareth Wall 60 mins), Gary Trewartha, Michael Wilson, Kyle Lemon, Gareth Wall (Jacques Greyling 40 mins), Barry Cook, Tavita Faamausili, Neil Bamber (Andrew Boyle 51 mins), Richard Penny, Adam Amos, Tom Meller, Phil Pearson (Bryan Bagnall 56 mins), Bryan Bagnall (Jack Golds 15 mins)

Scorers: Tries Gareth Lewis

Conv: Gareth Lewis