Stone RUFC kick-started 2015 with a scrappy home win over third-place Burton to leapfrog back to the top of the table.
Stone kicked off facing the clubhouse and they were immediately handed the initiative, a good chase from the kick-off caught the first receiver in the 5m channel and he was shoved into touch. From the resulting lineout Burton stole the ball and set up a driving maul to move back into the Stone half before shipping the ball to the middle of the park where Stone were penalised for hands in the ruck. Burton chose to kick to touch and from the lineout set another driving maul which Stone were unable to stop, with the Burton pack crossing for a converted try.
It was clear Burton valued their maul as from the restart they once again set up to push the Stone pack back to their own 22m line. Stone’s scrambled defence seemed to hold until a mistake at a ruck saw the Burton winger cut straight through the line to score their second try of the afternoon, the missed conversion put the score 12-0.
With the game threatening to run away from them Stone dug deep and started to work their way into the match. After neutralising the Burton maul and securing more of the ball, Stone turned the game on its head with three quick-fire tries from Chip Laidlaw, John Bekalo and Stevan Ivic to take the score to 21-12 at half-time.
Burton came out fighting after the break and soon pegged Stone back in their own half. With the pressure mounting the home side’s penalty count began to rise and they were soon reduced to 14, Anthony Evans sin binned for consistent infringements. Burton kicked to touch from a penalty and used their numerical advantage in the pack to once again maul over the Stone line to score their third try, with the missed conversion taking the score to 21-17.
As in the first half, Stone rallied but were unable to gain any momentum with a man down. Burton continued the pressure but were unable to break through again before the numbers were equal. This was short lived as Stone were once again reduced to 14, Tom Hart sin binned for lifting the leg in a maul. Burton took the shot at goal from the penalty to cut Stone’s lead to a single point.
Playing almost 20 minutes solid with 14 men took its toll on Stone and Burton took the lead late in the game with another driving maul, the conversion missed again took the scores to 21-25. With time running out and back up to 15 men, Stone threw everything at Burton to try and salvage the win. Burton defended bravely but with five minutes to go Danny Culter burst through the defensive line before passing to Joe Powell who beat his man and scored wide in the corner, with John Bekalo adding the extras to make the score 28-25. Despite Burton’s best efforts, Stone’s defence held out for the final five minutes to take the win and move back to the top of the table.
Photos by Laura Malkin (@LauraMalkin on Twitter).
Stone are at home to Newport on Saturday 17th January, 2.30pm kick-off. Home matches are played at Stone Hockey Club in Enson Lane, Aston. Lots more information about Stone RUFC on their website HERE
