Sat 27 Nov 2021
Wallingford welcomed high flying Stow to the Hithercroft on a bitterly cold afternoon as they looked to get their season back on track.
In selection, Wallingford were able to welcome back a number of players, with the likes of Nathan Chapman, Carl Tappin, and Ralph Smith returning, as well as Tom Cerullo, who became the sixth different fly half in 8 league games as Wallingford’s injury crisis continued.
Playing against a strong wind in the first half, it was primarily a case of survival for the hosts, as they put in a huge defensive shift against Stow’s big runners whilst doing well to clear their lines when the opportunity arose.
Wallingford created some half chances, with captain James Norris and Cerullo making threatening breaks, but eventually the dangerous visitors got their opening score on the half hour mark, as they created an overlap on the left to put their winger in in the corner for an unconverted try.
What was looking like a decent half for the hosts against the wind took a turn for the worst in the last five minutes, as first Nathan Chapman got caught with the hands in the cookie jar at the breakdown, resulting in a yellow card, and then Stow counter attacked ruthlessly from their own twenty-two with a quick tap, as they moved the ball wide before finishing an excellent team try to end the half 12-0 up.
Despite the setback, Wallingford were optimistic that they could turn things around with the wind at their back, but that wasn’t to be.
Stow, whose backline moved the ball well immaculately in blustery conditions, constantly stretched the Wallingford defence, and despite some excellent cover defence, they soon scored on the left to extend their lead.
A fourth try soon followed, as they executed a classic ‘rangy’ play off a central scrum to put their 13 in space before he finished well under the posts.
With the game seemingly over, Wallingford finally got on the scoresheet. After a clash of heads on the Stow tryline resulted in a scrum, Jack Payne dew three defenders blind before offloading to Ralph Smith who dotted down for a converted score.
But Stow weren’t done there, as they added two more scores to take the final score to 34-7 to the Cotswold men.
This was a tough afternoon for the hosts, who didn’t play that badly, but were up against a Stow side that have bucked the downward trend of grassroots rugby so far this season and have clearly done very well in the Covid transfer window.
They have clearly acquired some quality players over the last two years, which complimented by some maturing young talent and a few old heads, has resulted in probably the most complete side Southern Counties North has seen in a few years.
