Western Counties North Stroud 31 Old Centralians 8

THE scoreline suggests a reasonably comfortable result for Stroud, but it certainly wasn't the case as Old Cents put on a good performance that gave their hosts more than a few worries.

Once again the kicking of Josh Lister steadied the nerves.

The match had hardly seen players draw sweat when Old Cents' Chris Anderson slotted a penalty, this was quickly followed by Mike Mumford scoring out wide. Stroud looked in disarray and it looked likely that this game would drift away from them inside the first quarter of the match.

However, James Bashford threw Stroud a lifeline when he was allowed to breach Old Cents back line and hare 25 metres for the posts, Josh Lister added the extras.

Stroud started to get their act together in the second half by playing simpler rugby. Julian Harry was the first to lead the way with aggressive breaks from deep that made Old Cents scamper to cover, and it was him who made Strouds' second try from such a move.

Dando dash

Luke Dando, also one to catch the eye playing at hooker this week, was alongside Harry's run to take the offload and score under the posts.

Old Cents certainly tried to recover and pinned Stroud back in their own 22 but some sterling defensive work held the line. The switch of Rob Davey for Jesse Owens at half time also seemed to enliven matters as Davey got stuck in with some good handling and a couple of runs through defenders that caused anxiety.

The next score was crucial and Dando did the deed in adding a second try under the posts to all but kill the game, Lister added the extras. Dando almost got away for a third but an unlucky bounce whilst hacking the ball on, and into touch.

Lister slotted a penalty to extend Stroud's lead but Rob Matts, who had covered most of the field during the game, was given space to burst through and score despite having his ankles tapped in a despairing tackle, again Lister split the uprights.