ON a quagmire of a pitch that was only just playable, Stroud produced a poor performance against a Barton Hill.

The pack won a reasonable share of possession but this was wasted by the backs with a mixture of poor kicking and wrong options taken.

The first quarter saw Barton Hill have the majority of possession but it was Stroud who took the lead after 29 minutes. Jesse Owens had the presence of mind to charge down a free kick and when the Hill stand off held onto the rebound and did not release, Peter Sykes slotted the resulting penalty for a 3-0 lead.

The game was lost at the start of the second half when former Stroud player Steve Ireland fielded a kick. The ball was moved to the fly half who hoisted a kick to the far corner where Stroud’s defence was non existent and the Hill left wing had plenty of time to gather and score in the corner. The conversion was missed but, with points at a premium, a two point lead was crucial.

As the game progressed, Stroud had more and more of the play with Adam Tarplee covering every yard of the pitch and Rupert Wakefield excelling in attack and defence. John Allen replaced Judd Martin and Rob Bashford replaced Ben Brinkworth, but despite all the pressure, Stroud could not produce the vital score as the Barton Hill defence held firm for a 5-3 victory.

Stroud are at home to Gordon League in the next round of the EDF Energy Senior Vase, kick off 2pm.

Stroud: M.Fogarty; P.Sykes, L.Robertson, D.Gordon, A.Pilbeam; I.Bushell, J.Wand(Capt); B.Brinkworth (rep.R.Bashford), R.Wakefield, A.Jarrett, J.Owens, R.Higgins, R.Matts, A.Tarplee, J.Martin (rep.J.Allen).

Star man: Rupert Wakefield.