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Match Report - Stockport v Stoke
RACHEL Bailey29 Oct 2024 - 22:18
With thanks to Mike Yorke for the Match Report.
Stockport 53 Stoke 32
Stoke travelled to Stockport looking to back up last week’s victory against Birkenhead Park.
The game didn’t start well for Stoke who received the kick off. An attempted clearance kick was charged down with the home side regaining possession. They moved the ball quickly to the right, scoring in the corner giving them an early lead. Fortunately Stoke settled down quickly and after eight minutes replied with a Will Sant penalty to make the score 3-5. More good play saw Stoke take the lead with a Tom Dodd try. A good kick from scrum half Will Bailey was well chased by Samson Shute, his pressure forced the covering defender to knock the ball on, giving Stoke a scrum eight metres out. The forwards took the ball on from the scrum, moving infield with some strong carries before Dodd crashed over for the try, Will Sant added the conversion. The lead didn’t last long. The receiver from the kick off was held up giving Stockport a scrum. The home side drew a penalty at the scrum, which was kicked to touch five metres out. From the line out, the forwards secured the ball and drove over for the try, making the score 10-10. Stoke had a good spell in the second quarter of the game. Will Bailey reacted quickly at a ruck in front of the posts, bursting through a gap in the defence to score under the posts. Will Sant added the conversion and a penalty soon after to give Stoke a 10-20 lead with about twelve minutes to half time. In the final ten minutes of the half the hosts kept the ball tight using their powerful forwards to make good ground. This enabled them to score two unconverted tries before half time to level the scores at 20-20.
The home side put the result beyond doubt in the first fifteen minutes of the second half. Three unanswered tries and a Jamie Loska yellow card saw to that, making the score 41-20. It was twenty three minutes into the half before Stoke made a meaningful foray into the Stockport half. Jamie Loska made a good break and was able to offload to Will Sant who did really well to beat a couple of defenders and stretch to reach over the line for Stoke’s third try. Stockport regained the three score gap with another try after twenty seven minutes. As the game entered the last ten minutes Stoke were running the ball from anywhere and having success in getting behind the defence. A penalty was kicked to five metres out and the forwards worked well at the line out to drive the ball over the line, Sam Yorke touching down to give Stoke a valuable try bonus point. Will Sant added an excellent conversion from out wide making the score 46-32. A second bonus point for losing within seven points became a possibility. This encouraged Stoke to run everything in the dying minutes, unfortunately a turnover on half way gave Stockport the opportunity to counter and score the final points of the game, 53-32.
All focus now moves to the next home game on the 9th November against Leek, who have had some good performances recently and will come to Hartwell Lane full of confidence. I know the squad are really looking forward to the fixture and as always will appreciate all support.
Stoke travelled to Stockport looking to back up last week’s victory against Birkenhead Park.
The game didn’t start well for Stoke who received the kick off. An attempted clearance kick was charged down with the home side regaining possession. They moved the ball quickly to the right, scoring in the corner giving them an early lead. Fortunately Stoke settled down quickly and after eight minutes replied with a Will Sant penalty to make the score 3-5. More good play saw Stoke take the lead with a Tom Dodd try. A good kick from scrum half Will Bailey was well chased by Samson Shute, his pressure forced the covering defender to knock the ball on, giving Stoke a scrum eight metres out. The forwards took the ball on from the scrum, moving infield with some strong carries before Dodd crashed over for the try, Will Sant added the conversion. The lead didn’t last long. The receiver from the kick off was held up giving Stockport a scrum. The home side drew a penalty at the scrum, which was kicked to touch five metres out. From the line out, the forwards secured the ball and drove over for the try, making the score 10-10. Stoke had a good spell in the second quarter of the game. Will Bailey reacted quickly at a ruck in front of the posts, bursting through a gap in the defence to score under the posts. Will Sant added the conversion and a penalty soon after to give Stoke a 10-20 lead with about twelve minutes to half time. In the final ten minutes of the half the hosts kept the ball tight using their powerful forwards to make good ground. This enabled them to score two unconverted tries before half time to level the scores at 20-20.
The home side put the result beyond doubt in the first fifteen minutes of the second half. Three unanswered tries and a Jamie Loska yellow card saw to that, making the score 41-20. It was twenty three minutes into the half before Stoke made a meaningful foray into the Stockport half. Jamie Loska made a good break and was able to offload to Will Sant who did really well to beat a couple of defenders and stretch to reach over the line for Stoke’s third try. Stockport regained the three score gap with another try after twenty seven minutes. As the game entered the last ten minutes Stoke were running the ball from anywhere and having success in getting behind the defence. A penalty was kicked to five metres out and the forwards worked well at the line out to drive the ball over the line, Sam Yorke touching down to give Stoke a valuable try bonus point. Will Sant added an excellent conversion from out wide making the score 46-32. A second bonus point for losing within seven points became a possibility. This encouraged Stoke to run everything in the dying minutes, unfortunately a turnover on half way gave Stockport the opportunity to counter and score the final points of the game, 53-32.
All focus now moves to the next home game on the 9th November against Leek, who have had some good performances recently and will come to Hartwell Lane full of confidence. I know the squad are really looking forward to the fixture and as always will appreciate all support.
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