Stoke 10 Oxford Harlequins 7

Stoke welcomed league leaders Oxford Harlequins to Hartwell Lane.
Stoke made a good start to the game, winning a penalty at the first scrum, creating some early pressure on the visitors. A couple of quick penalties at the breakdown allowed Oxford to make progress up the pitch. Once in possession Oxford produced quick ball at the ruck to allow their backs to move onto the ball quickly to test the Stoke defensive organisation. The middle part of the first half was played out largely in midfield. As the half drew to a close the visitors looked the more likely to score. On the half hour the Stoke defence was sucked in, Oxford moved the ball left and looked likely to score in the corner but Nick Oxley anticipated the final pass well and forced the ball into touch. The first score of the match came late in the first half. A period of Oxford possession was well defended, however, with a man down injured inside the five metre line Stoke eventually ran out of defenders, allowing Oxford to score in the corner. The try was well converted, making the half time score 0-7.
The second half started well for Stoke, the forwards were working hard to provide quicker ball for the backs who started to test their opponents. On seventeen minutes Stoke attacked from their own twenty two, the ball was dropped and Oxford were awarded a penalty for playing the ball on the floor. Rather than kick for territory Oxford opted to go for the three points. The resulting kick went wide keeping the score at 0-7. The longer the half went on the more confident Stoke became. Approaching the half hour, Stoke moved the ball right for fly half Ciaran Shone to chip it over the on rushing defence. Captain, Jamie Loska, timed his chase perfectly, catching the ball at pace and breaking through two tackles he sprinted between the posts for an excellent try, much to the delight of the home crowd. Shone added the conversion to make the score all square with ten minutes left. Stoke began to realise a win was possible and pressurised the league leaders in search of the winning score. With just a couple of minutes left Oxford were penalised for crossing and Stoke were awarded a penalty twenty five metres out towards the left touch line. Ciaran Shone stepped up and coolly slotted the kick between the posts to give Stoke a 10-7 lead. From the restart Oxford regained the ball and were awarded a penalty wide on the right, instead of going for the points they decided to tap and go and look for a try to win the game. The second pass infield was called forward by the referee and Stoke were awarded the scrum. The ball was secured and scum half Jamie Murray took great delight in kicking the ball dead to end the game and give Stoke a well-deserved win against the league leaders, only their second defeat of the season. The whole Stoke squad worked extremely hard and yet again showed their resilience and ‘never say die’ attitude.

Written by Mike Yorke