Southern Counties North

Milton Keynes 15 Stow 60

STOW scored an unanswered 43 points in a sparkling second half display which saw them gain an emphatic win against a pacy Milton Keynes side.

Stow ran in a total 10 tries – eight by the forwards, including four by the Chapman brothers.

At the start, Stow playing down the slope but against the wind, struggled to show any consistency and had difficulty retaining possession.

Play was disjointed but MK showed pace and elusiveness and after five minutes they scored an unconverted try in the corner.

Stow retaliated immediately and James Holmes found room to beat two defenders for another unconverted try.

Stow were starting to settle when Holmes suffered a neck injury and had to go off, which disturbed the balance of the Stow backs, so forward play became the order of the day and after five minutes of sustained pressure, the visitors took the lead 5-12 with a Craig Chapman try, converted by Ed Hampshire.

MK responded well, their quick scrum half and No.8 combining well for a score under the posts, though the conversion was missed.

After 35 minutes Stow were again surprised by the speed and handling of the MK back line who scored a further unconverted try.

As the ref was about to blow for half-time, the Stow pack took a ball against the head and a clever kick through saw Bradley Wrench pick up and score in the corner to give Stow a 15-17 half-time lead.

The Stow XV did not receive too many compliments from the coach at the break but came out in much more determined fashion and scored two good forwards' tries in the first eight minutes – one apiece for the Chapman brothers, as Stow assumed complete control.

Injuries continued for both sides – Ben Ullmer along with the MK scrum half and No.8. were all sidelined.

But Stow's forwards were now leading the way. Dan Savage scored a great try and Craig Chapman ran in his hat-trick score.

The backs, with Alex Kelly at No.10, were now combining well with the forwards, allowing a good try-scoring run by Andrew Piercy and an even better try by Chris Powlesland (both converted by Kelly) to take the final score to 15-60.