The 1st XV welcomed Brighton Football Club (RFU) to Dukes Meadows yesterday for the first league fixture for 2025, and avoided the dreaded frosted pitch syndrome by playing on 3G pitch No. 2 at Kings House. A good result culminating in a 33-20 max bonus point win for the Stags, after a gritty, sometimes scrappy match. In the end the Stags exercised some super end to end incisive lines, and well backed up moves, that saw us run in five tries through Luke Risman, Adam Clark (x2), Xavier Hill, and Alex Jones in his first full comeback since injury. 4 conversions by John Hargreaves made up the final tally. Brighton never gave up, and had their tails up when only losing by 12-10 at half time. They ran in a fourth bonus point try at the death, but in the end the timeless Stags defence, and the mentioned moments of brilliance in attack, brought on a good win. Great to see many supporters once again, and a decent number of fifteen for pre-match lunch, with some familiar faces of bygone years turning up! Well done everyone.
The Staghounds 2nd XV fixture away to Dorking was postponed, and re-arranged for Saturday 29th March.
This coming week – 10th & 11th January 2025. The Staghounds have scheduled a Friday 10th January evening fixture at Kings House School Sports Ground, on the 3G pitch and under the lights, against Battersea Ironsides RFC II’s. The game is due to kick off between 19.30 to 20.00, and hopefully we shall be able to confirm full details soon.
The 1st XV and a squad of 22 (including coaches and physio) fly off to the blue islands, leaving Gatwick on Saturday 11th January morning for a Regional 1 South Central league fixture against second place Jersey RFC, 3.30 p.m. kick off under the lights. Wish the Stags well on their travels!
Photos and league table attached: Enjoy the photos I managed to take at Dukes Meadows yesterday against Brighton Football Club (RFU), plus the Regional 1 South Central league table, and a few stats. Impressive numbers and reading. Keep it up Staggies!