Taunton Titans 26 Bishops Stortford 45

Conceding 3 penalties in the first seven minutes was giving the initiative to Bishops Stortford and when Taunton conceded a fourth penalty on the eight-minute mark, Taunton were punished from the resultant lineout which was caught cleanly and mauled over the line for the try which was converted.  Possession had been limited for that first ten minutes but gradually Taunton were having more possession and on the twelve-minute mark we had the first scrum of the afternoon.  The power going through from both sides was immense and neither gave an inch.  Taunton were gaining some good possession and reasonably quick ball coming back from the ruck. Frequently Ben Oliphant-Thompson or Isaac Dalton were being the first receiver and creating holes and dents in the defence.  On fifteen-minutes Isaac received a good ball and wrapped up several defenders in stopping him, Connor fed quick ball to “Man of the Match” Deago Bailey who broke through the gap and Connor Banks in support took the pass to race over for the try which was converted by Louis Sinclair to level the scores.  Taunton tightened up their game and Bishops Stortford started to give away the penalties and Taunton had some good possession but could not break down the Stortford defence. Stortford were always willing to run at the Taunton defence and on 34-minutesthe ball went wide to their left wing who outpaced his opposite number to score a try which was converted.  With just two minutes of the half left we saw Ben O-T drive at the defence laying quick ball back for the feed to Louis Sinclair who took on the opposition to make the break and feed Deago for the try which was converted to bring the scores level at 14-points each, which is how the half-finished.

The second half started in a similar way to the first with Taunton conceding penalties and were punished on the 45-minute mark with a try very similar to Stortford’s first try.  Whilst the conversion was missed Stortford now had a five-point lead and Taunton were reduced to 14-men having received a yellow card.  Stortford were able to exploit this directly from the kick off when some poor tacking from the Taunton defence allowed the gap to appear for the Stortford centre to race through for the converted try and a twelve-point lead.  At the next scrum after the restart Taunton had to read just and opted to scrummage with just seven in the pack.  Fearing the worst the crowd had a pleasant surprise when the seven pushed back the eight.  These seven worked very hard for the ten minutes they were reduced and kept Stortford well away for their line and winning rucks.  From one Deago was able to pick up and in a show of shear brilliance raced away from the defence not to be caught for the converted try. Taunton were now just five points behind and restored to 15-players.  There were opportunities but on70-minutes a flamboyant pass went astray and Stortford pounced to extend their lead to 10-points.  Just four minutes later and they scored another try which was converted and that narrow gulf had suddenly become a wide chasm.  Taunton continued to press and with one minute of the game left Sam Prior went in for what he described as a dynamic try.  This was the fourth of the afternoon for Taunton and earned them a try bonus point. Whilst the clock had gone to 80-minutes the referee’s watch showed different and with Taunton going for an all-out attack to try to gain another point,  a miss guided pass allowed Stortford in for another try.

The score did not reflect the closeness of the game and many of us felt that it was down to very fine margins and Taunton had opportunities.  They will need to take these on their away game to Leicester Lions next week.

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