Basingstoke maintain second place in league with crucial win

Tom Jeffrey the stand-out performer, scoring five tries as the home side put on a dominant display, despite having to play the majority of the game with 14 men.

Eleven tries in all saw them run out convincing winners against the team sitting bottom of Hampshire 2.

‘Stoke scored six tries in the opening half with the bonus point wrapped up inside the half-hour mark, the opening try coming courtesy of Oscar Rowley, who himself had a rather mixed afternoon, was able to burst through the visitors' defence to eventually dot down under the posts. Sam Clark on kicking duties, wasn’t going to miss this one.

Adam Warner was next to get his name on the scoresheet, Alfie Rowley finding space & eventually offloading to Warner who broke free to score in the corner to give ‘Stoke a 12-0 lead inside 10 minutes.

Alfie Rowley went from provider to scorer with his first try on a day which would eventually see him ending the match with a brace of tries & multiple assists. A clean line-out from the home side saw Rowley able to receive clean ball from centre, Matt Mairs, & like a hot knife through butter, he was able to pierce through a soft Tottonians back line in an opening 20 minutes that had been pretty plain sailing for the hosts. The bonus point was soon secured by Matt Mairs before Tom Jeffrey began his own try of the day competition shortly after the half hour. The first of his two opening half tries coming after a chip over the Tottonians defence by fly half Sam Clark saw Jeffrey able to gather the ball cleanly & gallop into the end zone for the home sides 5th try in the half.

‘Stoke however soon found themselves reduced to 14 men for the remainder of the afternoon after the referee deemed a dangerous tackle worthy of a red card. The home side however weren’t disadvantaged for long as the visitors were reduced to 14 themselves, not because of any cards but they had, unfortunately for them, run out of substitutes to use.

Despite this rather unwelcome setback ‘Stoke continued to pile on the pressure as Tom Jeffrey was soon adding to his tally for the afternoon with a second score in the far corner, which eventually saw the home side end the half with a 36-0 lead courtesy of Sam Clark’s right boot adding the extras.

The second half began much the same way as the first had ended, Alfie Rowley grabbing his second of the day before Tom Jeffrey was able to complete his hat-trick after the hosts missed touch after being awarded a penalty inside their own half. Some good play from Tottonians did allow them to keep ‘Stoke pinned in their own 22’ for a brief period but it wasn’t long before the hosts were soon increasing their lead further, Jeffrey adding his 4th of the day, turning on the afterburners to scorch clear of the chasing Tottonians defenders. With Sam Clark adding the extras the home side had a comfortable 55-0 lead with half an hour still on the clock.

Two further tries were added by the hosts, Ethan Bushnell came off the bench to eventually complete the rout, but not before Jeffrey had put a rather large cherry on his fair sized cake as he was able to slide into the corner for his 5th of the day after more soft defence from Tottonians allowed him to complete a pretty much perfect afternoon for himself & ‘Stoke.

The win sees ‘Stoke hold onto second in Hampshire 2 & with a favourable result for them elsewhere they open up a gap to third-placed St Jacques who visit Down Grange in a months time.

The Dragons (2nd XV) were also in action & they were able to complete a double on the day as they headed back with all the points from their visit to Tottonians third team, winning 43-14 on the south coast, leaving them comfortably in fourth place in Hampshire 4A.

A successful afternoon for ‘Stoke as they look forward to the rearranged visit of Fordingbridge next Saturday afternoon.

Tries- Oscar Rowley, Adam Warner, Alfie Rowley x2, Matt Mairs, Tom Jeffrey x5, Ethan Bushnell

Conversions- Sam Clark x6