Early try sets up fine Stratford win
Stratford 43, Malvern 0
STRATFORD returned to winning ways after having once again had their previous game called off, showing their class in a convincing victory in front of the home supporters.
Malvern started with possession, moving the ball well across the field and building around eight to ten phases. But they weren’t able to break through the Stratford line and eventually a powerful tackle caused the knock-on and secured possession for the home team.
Stratford made the most of the ball and spread it left efficiently, allowing Andy Oliver in at the corner for the first score of the game just five minutes in – a welcome relief to all the players who showed that their defeat at Shipston last time out was just a blip.
Malvern came back at Stratford a number of times but were always rebuffed and a break from a Stratford scrum was stopped with a last-minute tap-tackle allowing Malvern to regain the ball.
A few phases later when the ball was kicked deep into the home side’s 22, a quick counterattack saw the ball worked from left to right. A flick out the back by Gwil Davies, playing at inside centre for this match, drew in two players and allowed James Walton to run in and dot down just to the right of the posts. A successful conversion made it 12-0.
From a penalty, Malvern had a line-out deep in the Stratford 22 but then conceded a penalty at the scrum which turned over possession once again. This was becoming a regular theme.
Stratford progressed up the field starting from a scrum on their own 5m line and five or six phases later, spread the ball left through the back line and found Oliver who managed to go in from around the 22 after some perfectly timed passes to make the score 17-0 with roughly 35 minutes on the clock.
Malvern turned down multiple penalties within range of the posts in the first half while Bron Koziel and the rest of the Stratford backs appeared to take turns splitting the Malvern backline, maintaining the pressure and keeping Malvern on the back foot.
The hosts maintained their momentum going into the second half as they looked to build on their 17-point lead and almost scored in the corner. Instead, a quick pick from a last-ditch tackle allowed Jacob Kinnaird down the blindside to make it 22-0 with Davies’ conversion attempt dropping just under the bar.
A Stratford penalty from just inside their own missed touch but the Black-and-Whites were quickly able to turn the ball back over and some powerful running from the forwards broke the line. James Walton offloaded to Jonny Smith who crashed over the line taking the score to 29-0 after a successful conversion.
With the Stratford pack functioning smoothly, securing the rucks after dominant carries all-round, Stratford were looking good. After a clever chip behind the Malvern defence
into the try-area from Nath Geekie, Stratford regained the ball from the dropout under the posts. Gwil Davies capped off this period of possession after a step inside, a pirouette – or so it appeared – and a couple of handoffs, allowed him to force the ball over the line for another converted try.
Having spent most of the second period in the Malvern half, player of the match Geekie took the ball to the left of the ruck off a short pass and forced his way over between two defenders to complete the scoring with Davies adding a third conversion in a row.
