Stoke Old Boys vs Alcester (55-24) (L) (A)

A bit of a selection crisis hit Stoke Old Boys this weekend with skipper Michael Tyrrell having to work overtime (and call in help from Sam Cullinane) to gather together a group of players in order to field a full side. Alcester is always a difficult place to travel and this wouldn’t make it any easier.

You can usually tell how a Stoke side is going to fare during the day from observing the warm up and this was exactly the case on Saturday. A few of the Stoke players looked as if they’d rather be anywhere else and the pre match intensity was not what I’d hope for.

This carried through right into the game; Elv had spoken of Alcester’s desire to run everything and try to go the length. That’s exactly what they did, yet Stoke were still seemingly caught out. Within a few minutes Alcester had spread the ball wide and gone over in the corner from an attack that started deep in their own half. Stoke hadn’t got out of the changing rooms and were failing to deal with the free flowing running of the Alcester backs. To add to this, the 3 man giant forwards were also causing the Stoke defence problems. I don’t have to exaggerate at all when I say that their tighthead prop might have been the biggest man I’ve ever seen in my entire life, he ran straight at me at one point and as I tackled him I swear I blacked out a little bit.

The pressure Alcester were applying was paying dividends as they found space all across the pitch and regularly broke the Stoke defensive line. Whilst the scramble defence has been our saviour at points throughout this season, there’s only so much it can take and before long Stoke were 3 tries down. To add to the misery too, Ben Griffiths had to go off with a nasty looking knee injury & mercurial fly half David Pretty was operating without a right shoulder. Callum Hill was also spending 10 in the bin after the referee very harshly penalised a knock on as ‘deliberate’.

Quite frankly, I can’t remember how many times Alcester crossed the try line in the first half and there was little from the Stoke performance that could be praised. Kyle Timms did cross the line to restore some pride, the ‘link play’ specialist finding himself in the centres and carving through the Alcester defence to go in under the posts. David Pretty added the two points. Unfortunately though, Michael Tyrrell also picked up a hip injury and became the second name on the walking wounded list.

At half time, there was little to be positive about, but Stoke had to target something out of the game. With Kyle Timms evidencing that the Alcester defence was clearly breachable, they set their eyes on the try scoring bonus point.

Now attacking down the slope, Stoke found more joy in attack. Quick ball from Rory Mcbride, now operating at scrum half, found Cory Radford, who whilst riding 2 tackles managed to find an offload to Tom Elves who fought off one tackle before crashing over the line in the corner.

As the Alcester defence tired, Stoke switched from their pre match plan to fight through the middle to play a more expansive game and exploit the wings. From more quick ball after a forward drive, David Pretty released Adam Tyrrell on a ‘R’ line. Adam eyed the space infront of him and with the slope in his favour, turned on the afterburners and crossed the line.

Immediately from the restart Stoke scored again. Starting deep in their half Stoke looked to run the ball, skipper Michael Tyrrell working his way towards the wing and taking two defenders out of the game before passing back inside to Callum Hill, who drew his man and passed back outside to Tom Elves who broke through the tackle of two covering defenders, stepped the full back and sprinted through to cross the line for the crucial bonus point achieving try.

Some pride restored for Stoke and the opportunity now to capitalise on the momentum they were building. As was the tale of the day though, this crumbled and they conceded another try to widen the gap, additionally both teams were now operating with 14 men following a bit of handbags. As darkness fell the referee called the game to a close to loud cheers from Alcester’s VPs day crowd.

Elv, clearly seething at the first half performance that had ultimately cost Stoke any chance of walking away with a win, did concede that he’d have taken a point at half time but reiterated his disappointment still. This wasn’t a good day for Stoke both in terms of the manner of the defeat but also the injuries & suspensions picked up that they’ll now have to take into the next few league games too. Balsall & Berkswell are next up at Albert Gale Field and from our meetings in pre season for the last couple of years, we know they’ll present a stern challenge.

Finally, Captain Michael Tyrrell had this to say;
Saturday was one of those disappointing games that happen from time to time. We travelled over with a scratch side, 17 players, 16 until half time and then picked up over 5 injuries to key players. Played some excellent rugby and then some terrible rugby. We have lots to build on and improve, but that growing injury list is going to cause us some headaches. That said, we have had a few setbacks in previous seasons and stepped up to the plate, and I'm confident that we will bounce back from this stronger than ever. Our players will need to step up to the plate and commit themselves before the Christmas break, and I'm hoping our club members and supporters will rally around us and give that extra boost at home this weekend.

#UpTheStokies