CS Rugby 1863 17 Bishop's Stortford 3
CS Rugby 1863 clock-up 3 wins out of 3
A fine defensive display and an eye for the main chance enabled CS Rugby to register a satisfying win on an unexpectedly wet Saturday afternoon at Dukes Meadows. Bishop Stortford started strongly and they dominated early possession, but a strong CS defence kept them out. They did though kick a penalty after 11 minutes, and this three point lead was maintained for a quarter of an hour until Scott Hadden,the CS No.10, kicked a penalty to level the scores. Back came Stortford, but again great defence by CS kept them out. The half was almost over when Scott Hadden took a quick penalty and dummied under the posts through a paper-thin Stortford defence. CS came back for more when a purposeless Stortford punt was well returned via a perfectly timed pass by James Houston to send wing Heath Morley running free. Desperate cover defence prevented an immediate score, but a careless knock on by Stortford gave CS the scrum from which they set up a maul and drove over for a second try making the score 12-3 at the break.

Stortford again started the second half strongly, but CS contained them with ease. After 9 minutes, CS gained good territory from a penalty and registered a third try off the back of a dominant scrum, which was turned slightly to give No 8,Daniel Brown a clear run and crash over the line. The game seemed to peter out thereafter, as neither side could put together any concerted play and Stortford, in particular became increasingly frantic in their efforts to fight back. CS registering a hard worked win, 17-3 at the final whistle.