In this hugely exciting but error strewn game the Stags deservedly hung on to the draw when down to thirteen men against one of the league's pre-season favourites, Tonbridge Juddians.

In unusual conditions at Riverside Drive - a week after the autumnal equinox a blustery mainly east wind was blowing from the direction of the tennis courts - the Stags started brightly and indeed scored a try after barely five minutes. Full back Brendan Ward fielded a loose kick and took on the challenge, slicing through the first ragged line of defenders and linking up with his support for left wing Freddie Taylor to score an unconverted try in the corner.

TJs were quick to respond , and after two penalty misses, managed to get past the defence when a good line was picked by their hooker following a ruck. He had support to hand and the visitors were in under the posts: 5-7. The Stags were soon back in opposition territory and a brace of Scott Hadden penalties saw them into an 11-7 lead, a lead which they extended when Brendan Ward again seized the opportunity to make a lacerating break from the back , then delivered a cross field kick , perfectly timed for the chasing right wing, Paul Olima.

The half, dominated territorially by CS, was almost done so it was disappointing when the restart was first spilled into TJ hands and then a soft penalty conceded to make the score 16-10 at the interval. This score did not really reflect the edge that CS had enjoyed in most departments thus far but one clear issue for them was the line-out. Both sides were having difficulty finding their jumpers consistently in the constantly swirling wind but CS were considerably worse at it than their opponents.

When their lead was extended to 23-10 twelve minutes into the second half with Stuart Peel stepping his way through the TJs back line from twenty metres out after multiple phases, all seemed set fair for the Stags. Another immediate mistake at the restart followed by the giving away of a penalty meant, that - besides deja-vu - TJs were still very much in touch however. Meanwhile CS's line-out problems persisted. When TJs at last managed to control the ball for a significant period, they succeeded in creating space for their wing to score in the corner. At 23-18 and with just under twenty minutes to go it was clearly now anyone's game but the visitors very much with their gander up.

There was to be just the one score to them - on 72 minutes - although both sides threatened more than once in this tense final period. Another scything break by Ward from the back had completely opened up the defence and it seemed that the home side had to score only for the referee to adjudge that just as the vital pass was being delivered there had been some interference, presumably crossing. Harsh as this seemed, matters then then became even more fraught for the home side when first one and then, with just a few minutes to go now, a second home player, was sent to the bin leaving thirteen to face fifteen therefore, briefly - so the thinnest of defensive lines and with a severe imbalance now in the beef department ! A long range penalty attempt by the visitors failed and there was at the end of the day some justice in this, as this had in truth been a game which the Stags had dominated for long periods before - largely courtesy of the harsh yellow card regime apparently in operaton this season - throwing the doors wide open right at the end.

Coach Stefan Smith was not happy but philosophical : "A win, a draw and three losses tells the tale so far. Blending a new team with slightly variable changes in how we play has taken a little bit longer than anticipated. The training sessions are competitive and the attitude to building a new Stags team has been excellent. We shouldn't be far off stringing some positive results together. We will address some technical issues this week and look forward to taking on an excellent Bishop's Stortford team this Saturday."

CS scorers :

Tries

Taylor
Olima
Peel

Conversion:

Hadden

Penalties

Hadden (2)