Pearcecroft drama as rivals share derby day spoils
Stratford 24, Shipston 24
A LAST GASP try from fly-half Gwilym Davis, converted by Dan Whitby, earned Stratford a thrilling draw at home to neighbours Shipston in front of the biggest Pearcecroft crowd of the season.
It was the visitors who opened the scoring when, from a line-out, the ball was worked along the backs and winger Ollie Windebank created the extra man to score in the corner with Rob James kicking the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
The home side responded with a penalty kick from Whitby and then scored an excellent try of their own. Full-back Jo Cook gathered the ball five metres from his own try line before making a run upfield. Whitby and flanker Jamie Jones then took the ball just short of the line and two phases later, captain Tom Stanley made a short, cutting line to bruise his way over. Whitby added the extras to make it 10-7.
Despite only being five minutes left of the half, there was time enough for both teams to score.
It was Stratford first when a clearing kick by the visitors was gathered by Cook who linked up with Ollie Pearson and speedster Charlie Powell who sped upfield past the flailing attempts of defender and curved his run in towards the post, giving Whitby the simplest conversion.
But Shipston’s response was immediate as they ran another backs move similar to their first try as Windebank ran in his second score of the game, James again with the conversion to close the gap to 17-14 at half-time.
Stratford survived a scare as the second half began when the visitors had to be forced into touch on the home side’s five metre line.
Despite a period of attacking pressure from the hosts with the extra bulk of replacement lock Zak Amond causing problems for Shipston, they were reduced to 14 men when fellow lock Sam James was sent to the sin bin for a late hit.
The visitors went on the attack at this point and after twice being denied, they settled for a James penalty to level the scores.
The second half continued with the intensity and nerves rising and the hosts pushed their luck, giving away multiple penalties only for the kicks to be missed.
It looked as though Shipston had secured the bragging rights when, with just a few minutes remaining, centre Dan Taylor cut through the Stratford line to score with James’ kick opening up a seven-point lead.
But it wasn’t to be the Rams’ day. With the final play of the game, the Black-and-Whites worked the ball to within a metre of the line where Davis was able to stretch an arm over the line to score. Though a relatively simple kick, Whitby withstood the pressure and tied the scores with his conversion.
