Stour survived an opening barrage by Wheats to turn the tables emphatically after 25 minutes with a great try from half-way. The ball went through around 18 pairs of hands with a break by Boffey and Dews and then from left to right before Jim Owen barrelled his way over from close in on the right.

If anything the second try just over 3 mins later was even better, with a move started in the Lions 22 driven down the right and then a swift sequence of passes leaving Doolittle to coast over the line for a converted try to have the Lions 12-0 up.

Things went quiet for all of 10 minutes, with the Lions defending comfortably until a break out from the 22 left the Stour backs with Boffey and a two man overlap down the centre. The two extras were not needed as two dummies and a turn of speed put Boffey over under the posts. The conversion by Mitchell put the Lions seemingly home free before half-time at 19-0. A try down the left by Wheats only seemed to be a consolation at the end of the half but perhaps was a potent of what was to come.

The second half opened with almost continuous pressure from Wheats playing down the slope. The first raising of that pressure saw a move across the backs and to Dews down the right wing. He made 15 metres but suffered a head injury and had to go off. With no recognised backs replacements some juggling saw Pennock move out to the wing, replaced by Poole in the back row.

An increasingly fractious relationship with the referee finally saw him lose patience and sin-bin Poole for offside at a ruck near the Lions line. The pressure on the Lions defence, coupled with a further injury to Wainwright saw two quick tries for Wheats to bring them back to 15-19 and a huge chance to go ahead. However the Lions rallied and drove upfield where a penalty resulted in a further 3 points to take Stour 7 points clear. A further missed penalty followed and a fantastic last-ditch tackle under the posts by Harper-Smith to prevent an almost certain home try.

This was a really tough game against opponents who to their credit really fought back from what looked game over after 40 mins. However, we are now through to the quarters and things will be just as tough from now on. The performance under pressure really showed the virtues of teamwork and fitness initiated in the summer.

Jon Dews