Southern Counties North

Bletchley 27

Stow 27

STOW and Bletchley played out a thriller with the away side drawing level thanks to a try two minutes from the whistle.

With many players injured after the bruising defeat to Bicester, a new-look Stow side opted to outrun their bigger opponents.

From the kick-off Stow were unfortunate to give away a penalty in front of the posts, but immediately put the home defence under continuous pressure which paid off after 10 minutes when James Holmes outflanked the defence for a try; Joe Nott successfully kicked the conversion.

Stow continued to handle the ball well and attack down the left flank. The pressure told again when they were awarded a kickable penalty, converted by Nott to give the visitors a 10-3 lead.

But they immediately conceded three points from the kick-off to the frustration of the away supporters.

Finding space down the left once more, and handling well at pace, Ben Hoyle went through a gap to score an unconverted try.

Bletchley started to rally and Stow were put under some real pressure but just before half-time the usually reliable Nott missed with a penalty.

Stow made a great start to the second half; Ned Mawby hit the catcher and the visitors pounced on the loose ball with Hoyle taking it on the burst to score the try of the match. Nott's conversion took the score to 22-6.

At last the big Bletchley forwards started to play to their strengths. Stow conceded a penalty and from a five-metre line-out the hosts scored a catch and drive try.

On 54 minutes Brad Wrench had to come off and Stow missed a three-pointer.

With 12 minutes remaining the Bletchley pressure breached the heroic Stow defence for a converted score under the posts to reduce the lead to just two points.

Although Stow hardly missed a tackle, the pressure was building and Bletchley took a lead of 27-22 thanks to an interception try with five minutes to go.

Stow rallied to push the home side back and when Bletchley messed up the throw at a five-metre lineout Max Fisher seized it and dived over, but the winning conversion was missed.

A great 15-man performance by Stow, who played all the rugby in this game.