They held on to it until the hour mark when the introduction of hosts’ replacement outside half Steve Collins proved decisive as the tempo went up and the ball was moved wide, Stour getting blown away as they shipped 5 tries. A first try for replacement Tom Mitchell was scant consolation for Stour, and with just 5 games remaining they saw their safety margin eroded further by clubs below them in the National 2 North table. While relegation remains unlikely it is not yet an impossibility.

Jordan Page returned to start at hooker, as did Ben Hughes at lock forward, Chris Depper at no.8 and Jacob Nash at scrum half. On the bench Tom Mitchell joined Drew Harper and Nick Murphy.

With a pitch surface ideal for running rugby Stour received the kick off playing into a fresh breeze, opting to run a deep kick along the backline in their own 22. Ben Barkley’s break was rewarded when he found Stef Shillingford on his shoulder, the move reaching the hosts’s 10m line before an infringement brought a penalty from which Ryan’s kick found touch in the hosts’ 22, but a lineout obstruction was penalised and possession lost. The hosts lost lock forward Olly Parkinson to a knee injury before a big Stour shove at the first scrum drove the hosts off their own feed. They couldn’t advance their attack though, despite a nice take in the air by centre Ben Barkley. The hosts were awarded a penalty for a scrum misdemeanour that they kicked to the Stour 22, after a set of drives a tackler slipped off no.8 Matt Lamprey who profited by scoring the opening try. 7min 7-0.

A scrum penalty went the other way and Caolan Ryan again found touch in the hosts’ 22, but a maul got held up and possession turned over. Lamprey drove from the base of the scrum but good work by Ryan saw him penalised for holding on in the tackle, Ryan slotting a straightforward penalty goal. 16min 7-3. A penalty goal from a tackle offence saw the lead restored through as the hosts pressed an attack into the Stour midfield. 20min 10-3. A longer range effort for a further Stour transgression in the tackle area drifted wide though.

Ryan’s quick throw in to the alert Ciaran Moore set up an attack that looked to have put winger Gary Dipple free down the left touchline but a pass was called forward. The hosts kicked the ball deep into Stour’s 22 but fullback Tom Jarvis countered, Nash’s chip ahead rewarded when chasing flanker Eji Uzoigwe beat the defenders to the bouncing ball. With attackers queueing up wide left prop Mark George fed the ball to Dipple who outgassed the defenders to score in the corner. 28min 10-8.

Stour moved the ball left again from the restart, Dipple putting Jarvis into space with a run that reached the hosts’ 22 before a knock-on killed the move. The hosts cleared, but a penalty award at a scrum was taken quickly by Nash, Ryan’s kick & Dipple’s chase forcing a Stour lineout in Park’s 22. Ben Hughes was hauled down just short of the line, setting up a drive by Depper who managed to ground the ball on the tryline. Ryan converted, half time 10-15.

Park looked to run the kick off from deep, but a ball carrier was stripped by the hardworking Moore who drove into the hosts’ 22. An offside penalty offered an easy 3 point penalty kick, but Nash ran it quickly. The defences held though, and Ryan was eventually left with little option but to chip ahead as the attack ran out of steam. Park couldn’t move their attack either and were turned over at a ruck, but a badly executed poor option of a kick ahead gifted possession back, only Jarvis’s last ditch tackle averting the danger. Stef Cooksammy kept the tempo up by taking another quick tap penalty, Nash breaking down the right touchline but without support he was penalised for hanging on. With the high tempo starting to take its toll Park also tapped and ran but dropped the ball in contact, Nash kicking a chip deep into the hosts 22 and Moore leading the chase which was rewarded when Park knocked on in their 22. The ball squirted out of the scrum though as the pack drove, the hosts’ attack reaching the Stour 22 before a loose pass was picked off by captain Nigel Mukarati. He found Shillingford on his shoulder who reached the Park 22 before finding Dipple to his left. The cover got to him though and the scoring opportunity was killed by prop Max Ashcroft’s side-entry that earned him a yellow card. Ryan slotted straightforward penalty goal. 53min 10-18.

The hosts kept the tempo up and ran back a Stour’s clearance kick. A tackle penalty gifted them an attacking lineout in the Stour 22, further penalties were tapped & run and a mistake in the stretched defences allowed centre Matt Riley to score unchallenged. 60min 17-18.

Ryan’s restart went dead, the hosts opting for the lineout option curiously offered by referee Brendan McGaffney. An overlap was worked down the right touch, the ball fed back in to support runners and with the defences stretched prop Ben Black rumbled over from short range. 62min 22-18.

Stour secured the restart but couldn’t get any go-forward and had to kick for position, Park then gifted possession from an overcooked lineout throw. The hosts stormed through the gaps in a misaligned defence and were awarded a penalty deep in Stour’s 22 that they kicked for the corner. They set a maul and managed to drive it over the line for Lamprey to bag his 2nd try. 68min 29-18.

Stour again secured possession briefly but again had to kick it away. The hosts countered from deep and a neat offload by Lamprey put replacement Liam West in to score. 73min 36-18.

Realising that a 4-try bonus point was all they could now salvage from the game, Stour tapped & ran a penalty award in their own half. Dipple worked a gap in the defences, linking with Mitchell who scored. 77min 36-23. They tried to repeat the exercise but an isolated ball carrier got turned over, Riley chipped over the defenders and regathered a kind bounce to score the final try. Full time 43-23.