Stamford Rugby Club beat Old Laurentians in Counties 1 Midlands East (South)
A dominant performance of pace, skill and power saw Stamford to an emphatic victory over Old Laurentians on Saturday.
The purple, black and whites roared to a 74-12 success at Hambleton Road for their biggest win of the Counties 1 Midlands East (South) season.
The match had been rearranged from earlier in the season after the original contest had been abandoned due to two serious injuries.
The early signs were good as it was almost from the kick-off that a line-out move saw the ball go to centre Dan Heard who beat the defence for a try under the posts which Harry Bentley converted.
Town went on the attack again and a good forward drive took them into the Laurentians 22 where they won a penalty.
Jack Jones took a quick tap and go but was immediately tackled by a player who had not retreated 10 yards and for which he received a yellow card. Jones went quickly again and scored with a successful conversion making the score 14-0.
The Warwickshire side then put together a good move and were rewarded with a try to put them on the board at 14-5.
Stamford’s kick off was mixed up by three Laurentians players which allowed Heard to pick up and feed Arthur Lewis who crossed for a try which was again converted.
It was now total Stamford domination of play with Chisholm, Baker and Bentley combining to put Ed Cox away on a run to the line and the ball was recycled for Tris Small to crash over for the fourth and bonus point try. The conversion upped the score to 28-5.
The purple, black and white wave still kept coming and a sweeping move involving forwards and backs together led to a line out that opened the way for Joe Ireland to score which made it 33-5 at half-time.
The second half saw Town with the slope advantage which they used to gain the ground for an attack which resulted in a second try for Jones.
Stamford were using their strike runners to open up the visitors' defence and the team from Rugby had no answer to this.
When Fraser Hutton broke through, they stopped and appealed to the referee about an infringement. He blew the whistle, Hutton put the ball down between the posts, the referee spoke to the Laurentians players about their actions and then awarded the try which Fuchs converted.
Following the restart, Dave Martin made a quick break that covered half the pitch which resulted in a line-out. The forwards executed a perfect take and drive and hooker Ali Shaw scored.
Stamford were in complete control with the Cox brothers causing mayhem and it was Shaw again who finished off a move which was converted to make the score 57-5.
Laurentians were now living off scraps of possession and had no answer to the running and passing moves from Stamford which led to tries from Heard and Baker.
An audacious wide pass was then picked off by one of the Laurentians backs who ran from his own 22 to score a converted try and make the score 67-12.
Town did not want the game to end like that and George Cox went on the charge, leaving defenders on the ground to score under the posts for Fuchs to convert and make the final score 74-12.
This performance against a good side showed what Stamford have been building towards over recent weeks.
They next face strugglers Bugbrooke at home on Saturday before what could be seen as a season-defining trip to league leaders Daventry the following weekend.
Daventry beat Peterborough Lions 84-3 on Saturday and Stamford director of rugby Matt Albinson will have his squad fully prepared for what should be a titanic clash.
