South West Division

Southern Counties North

Beaconsfield 42

Stow-on-the-Wold 12

STOW-on-the-Wold suffered a heavy defeat away to Beaconsfield in the Southern Counties North on Saturday, but came away with a lot of credit given the amount of first-team players missing from the squad.

The youngsters brought in were applauded off the field by both teams of supporters and the referee, and it was a brilliant performance from Stow considering the circumstances.

While another match Stow could have won had they been able to field a settled side, the efforts of the young players against Beaconsfield is very encouraging for the future.

For Stow, set pieces was a continual problem. This resulted in very little possession but the defensive effort in the first half limited the home side to just 20 points.

Some tweaking and changes at the break gave Stow some set piece possession, the ball was sent down the line and the youthful backs made some telling breaks.

Two second-half tries were scored from Ted Holmes and Billy Maude, with Gus Hayward converting one.

The home side notched a further three tries and scored a penalty to run out comfortable winners, but not without a great fight and defensive performance from Stow.

Stow’s next game is on Saturday, January 14 at home to Bletchley.

They’ll be hoping for better availability from the squad, given they were without ten players from the previous two league games.

Stow are ninth in the Southern Counties North with 18 points from 11 games. Bletchley are bottom with just one win all season.