The 2nd half contained two short bursts during which 6 tries were scored in quick succession, yet outside of these the intensity dropped off to the extent that Stockport were able to respond with three 2nd half tries of their own. So the Saxons remain a work-in-progress, albeit one that responded to their coaches’ halftime challenge to send out a clear message to the rest of National 2 North. They continue to improve week on week, and when they finally fire on all cylinders for 80min you wonder just what sort of score they might rack up. That will not be a concern troubling the coaching staff just yet however as they ponder some stern challenges looming over the horizon in the next few weeks.

The starting lineup showed 3 changes from the Huddersfield trip, with Sione Tu’ipolotu coming back in to push Caolan Ryan to the bench, Tom Brown making his debut with Adam Sturdy away on holiday and the goalkicking option of Jamie Hearn winning him the nod over Stefan Cooksammy on the left wing. Elsewhere on the bench Will Jones made way for Chris Depper, another debutant.

Jamie Hearn got the scoreboard moving in just the 2nd minute, kicking a penalty awarded when both Stockport 2nd rows strayed offside from a kick ahead. Stockport regathered the restart however and kicked a penalty of their own when James Rodley came in at the side of a ruck. 5min 3-3.

A lovely Bressington offload put Tom Jarvis into space but the ball was lost forward near the Stockport line with more than a hint of obstruction on Bressington in support. A free kick for a delayed put in gave the Saxons the first of 3 early attacking platforms near the Stockport line, but they found various ways to squander these before Stockport gave them another with a knock on in their own 22. Drew Harper drove from the base from where he put Pete White into a gap, he drew the last defender and found Will Hurrell on his shoulder to take the scoring pass. Jamie Hearn converted, 14min 10-3.

The Saxons play reverted to scrappy for the next 15min, during which time Stockport declined 2 kickable penalties in favour of kicks to the corner, from which a lineout steal and patient Saxons defence held firm to hold out the attackers, finally kicking clear to the Stockport 22. The visitors overcooked their lineout throw, enabling Rodley to set up a Harper drive that was held up just short, but at the cost of a yellow card for the visitors’ no.8 for persistent offside infringements. The Saxons scrum made no mistake with an 8v7 advantage from 5m out, Drew Harper making the touchdown. 30min 15-3.

Stockport’s next drive stalled enabling the Saxons to secure a lineout throw just outside the visitors’ 22. A long throw to Robbie Hurrell led to a maul that was driven a huge 25m all the way to the tryline, Rodley the man in possession as the ball was grounded. Hearn landed the conversion, 37min 22-3.

Rodley blotted his copybook by conceding a penalty for going off his feet, but his blushes were spared by Rich Stott who turned over the subsequent Stockport attacking lineout. This launched a series of Saxons attacking phases that eventually came back to him in space on the left wing. He made 30m before linking with Harper who fed a scoring pass to Will Hurrell. Hearn converted to make it 29-3 at halftime with the 4 try bonus point already in the bag.

A couple of penalties conceded by the Saxons early in the 2nd half gave Stockport an attacking lineout from which their winger was able to shimmy past the midfield defence. 45min 29-10.

This spurred the Saxons into action however, with Tom Jarvis running a return kick back as far as the Stockport 22. Quick ball came to Sione Tu’ipoloto who spotted a mismatch in the defensive line and ghosted round his opponent without a finger laid on him. Hearn converted, 48min 36-10.

Straight from the restart the ball was secured by Harper, he fed Will Hurrell who broke through a tackle before finally being bundled into touch near the Stockport 10m line. Rich Stott won another lineout steal which was fed quickly to Hearn who cut back inside the cover but was held up just short of the line, but the ball was recycled quickly to Gary Dipple who had the vision to feed a long pass to captain Bressington who crossed unmarked to score in the corner. 50min 41-10.

On at halfback came Caolan Ryan & Lucas Roy-Smith. It was Harper’s turn to steal a Stockport lineout to start a move that finished with Bressington tackled into touch 10m short of the line. The Saxons pack forced an error from their opponents, the ball again fed to Bressington who uncharacteristically lost it in contact as he crossed the tryline. No matter, the Saxons pack drove their opponents scrum into touch before securing the lineout throw and driving another maul over the tryline, Harper scoring his 2nd try of the game. 57min 46-10.

Nick Adams & Jordan Page came on in the front row and the quick succession of changes seemed to disrupt the Saxons defensive patterns. An attacking position was conceded by a sloppy clearance kick put out on the full, from which Stockport moved the ball right to draw Hearn infield to give their winger a clear run to the line for a converted try. 60min 46-17.

A couple of Saxons’ penalties allowed Stockport to drive again into the Saxons’ half, but Nigel Mukarati secured loose ball which was moved wide by Will Hurrell on the counterattack which went through multiple sets of hands. Page cut back in and was held up on the line, but the ball eventually reached Hearn who scored as the defence ran out of numbers. 66min 51-17.

The final change was made with Chris Depper on for Harper. Straight off the restart Will Hurrell fed Jarvis who took the ball straight and at pace near his own 22, stepping inside the winger to feed Hearn who was in support to finish the move with a try under the posts. Ryan converted, 68min 58-17.

With their tails up the Saxons chose to twist the knife, kicking a penalty to the corner where Robbie Hurrell not only secured the lineout throw but also managed to finish off the move by scoring the try as the maul was driven over, Ryan again converting. 72min 65-17.

Credit to Stockport who refused to lie down in the face of this onslaught, they ran a Saxons clearance kick back at them and their winger would have secured a hat-trick had he not fluffed a pass with the line at his mercy. The Saxons drove back but turned the ball over enabling Stockport a final counterattack. Holes started to appear in defensive lines as fatigue started to tell, and Stockport’s outside half was to score the final try as he sauntered through some rather innocuous midfield tackling from a final minute lineout. Fulltime 65-24.

Commenting on the performance, head coach Mike Umaga observed ‘I challenged the team to play for the full 40min 2nd half and demonstrate what we can do in attack. Obviously I’m pleased with a 10-try bonus point win but there are still plenty of areas we can improve on. Individually I though Tom Brown did extremely well on his debut, dominating his opponent at scrumtime, but the outstanding performance today was from Man of the Match James Rodley, who was everywhere, playing right on the limits as a good no.7 should'.