Errors lead to defeat at Pearcecroft

Stratford 18 Ludlow 34

Regional Two Midlands West

Stratford welcomed Ludlow to Pearcecroft and started applying pressure pretty much from the get-go when a smart backs move put Charlie Powell in space, and he was able to make good yardage before being tackled and unfortunately the ball spilled out the back of the ruck allowing Ludlow to recover.

It was the visitors who claimed the first points though when they spread the ball across the pitch from a stable scrum and used a decoy runner and a basketball-style pass back inside for one of their forwards to score five metres from the corner.

Stratford went back on the attack and were unfortunate when Tom Houlahan just missed out on getting his hands on a charged down kick.

A Gwilym Davis penalty closed the gap to two points just before the half-hour before bagging their first try of the afternoon when the ball was worked from side-to-side creating the space for Zak Hamersley to go in at the corner for his first try for the first XV. Davis added the extras for a 10-5 lead.

Solid Stratford defending denied Ludlow close to the line on three or four occasions prompting the visitors to take a kick at goal which was missed and when the home side slotted over a second penalty from Davis, they took a 13-5 lead into half-time.

But Stratford were unable to carry that momentum into the second period with the Shropshire side scoring an unconverted try just five minutes into the half following a ruck.

Stratford hit back five minutes later with a try of their own. A scrum on the Ludlow 22 saw the Black-and-Whites work their way to the line when Nathan Geekie put Powell in one-on-one with the Ludlow winger and he passed his man with relative ease to open up an 18-10 lead.

That was as good as it was to get though for the home side even though their opponents had a player sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Will Dobbin.

A penalty kick to try and catch out the narrow Ludlow defence was seized upon by the visiting centre who sped down the Stratford left and popped back inside for a supporting player to score in the corner. The conversion closed the gap to a single point with 25 minutes remaining.

The hosts had Powell sent to the bin and Ludlow capitalised on a penalty advantage as their no8 crashed over the line to open up a 22-18 lead.

Going into the final ten minutes, Stratford won a line-out on halfway but when the ball was fumbled in midfield and hoofed forward by the visitors, it led to a Ludlow five-metre scrum from which they scored down the blindside.

The final try came when Ludlow were able to execute a three-on-two advantage just inside the Stratford 22 allowing the full-back to score in the corner to ensure it was a second half to forget for the Stratford team.

There were wins for Shipston and Alcester while Harbury claimed the bragging rights with a derby day victory at home to Claverdon. See this week’s Herald for reports and pictures.