Sat 18 Dec 2021
Bedford Queens 22 – 45 Huntingdon Stags
Stags finally took their home form on the road on Saturday, closing 2021 with their first away win of the season, at Bedford Queens, one of only two games played in severely COVID-hit Midlands 3 East (South) fixture list.
The Huntingdon side featured a number of changes from last week’s win over Northampton Mens Own, with Kris Jones (sponsored by Store It Quickly) and Thomas Davies-Parratt replacing the injured pair of Luke Murphy and skipper Wayne Bradley up front, and a reshuffled back line, with Joe Hicken (sponsored by Ceres Rural) moving to fly half from fullback to cover for the absent Dan Malem, and Will Hirons coming on to the wing for Tango Morgan.
Although Stags will have taken confidence into kick off from last week’s win, it was the home side who started the brighter, belying their position at the foot of the table to take an early 5-0 lead as the driving play from their pack saw them score from a driven lineout after a long spell of possession.
From the restart, Stags looked to get back on level terms and with some possession of their own, they increased the pace of the game, and went through the phases until the thick-thatched scrumhalf Jack Skidmore darted over from close range, with the extras added by Hicken for a 5-7 lead.
However, this lead was to be short lived as the Bedford pack once again set about their work in the driven exchanges with vigour, going over for an unconverted try from another driving maul, which, along with the scrummage, proved to be a thorn in the side of an otherwise impressive Stags side for the whole afternoon.
Once again Huntingdon found themselves with a deficit to make up, and duly did with the rampaging Move It Quickly-sponsored Barnie West moving quickly to finish out wide after concerted pressure from the visitors. Unfortunately, the try went unconverted as Hicken missed his first kick at goal in 13 attempts, making the lead a narrow two points.
The two point lead quickly became 7 though as captain for the day Roger Shakespeare (sponsored by Gunfire) scored from a driving maul, again the extras were missed, so oranges were taken at 10-17.
If the sizeable crowd of visiting support thought the start of the second half may signal the opening of the floodgates against the tiring Queens side, they were soon proved wrong as once again the Queens pack asserted themselves in the tight exchanges, this time winning a scrum against the head, with their scrum half taking full advantage, waltzing in untouched down a blindside as deserted as a locked-down high street to peg the Stags lead back to two points at 15-17.
A quick fire double soon extended the lead though, with West getting his second of the day out wide with a typical bulldozing finish, before Luca Proietti (sponsored by The Hare on the Green, Brampton) picked a line in midfield to stroll in under the posts, both converted by Hicken for a 15-31 lead.
The dogged Queens side then scored what proved to be their final try of the match, their livewire scrumhalf crossing again after a dominant scrum, before Huntingdon rounded of their afternoon’s work with two more tries, the first created by a midfield break from Man of the Match Richard North, relishing playing on the fast artificial surface, before feeding the supporting Jamie Gunn who continues to impress since his move from the wing to the outside centre berth, to score under the posts. The last word went to North himself after he intercepted a pass and out paced the cover to score the try his performance deserved.
Head Coach Reggie Reid was full of festive spirit after the game, commenting ‘Our first away win of the season, delivered by a great, aggressive defensive performance in the main, sometimes pushing Queens back 20 metres, and we scored some fantastic team tries as well. All in all, a great way to end the year, with so many players out there who have come through the Stags system. We’ve still got areas of improvement but we’ll enjoy the festivities and hit the ground running in January and look to put on Spalding first up – we owe them one after the loss at their place!’
- Sam Johnson - Available to sponsor. Your Company Name here, get in touch today!
- Luca Proietti (sponsored by The Hare on the Green, Brampton)
- Kris Jones (sponsored by Store It Quickly)
- Bodge Saunders (sponsored by Griggs Project Services Ltd)
- Thomas Davies-Parratt - Available to sponsor. Your Company Name here, get in touch today!
- Doug Clark - Available to sponsor. Your Company Name here, get in touch today!
- Roger Shakespeare (sponsored by Gunfire)
- Liam Findlay (sponsored by Nick Brown Racing)
- Jack Skidmore (sponsored by MAE Construction)
- Joe Hicken (sponsored by Ceres Rural)
- Will Hirons - Available to sponsor. Your Company Name here, get in touch today!
- Richard North - Available to sponsor. Your Company Name here, get in touch today!
- Jamie Gunn (sponsored by Oakbank Game & Conservation)
- Barnie West (sponsored by Move It Quickly)
- Charlie Saunders - Available to sponsor. Your Company Name here, get in touch today!
- Harvey Pinkney - Available to sponsor. Your Company Name here, get in touch today!
- Tyler Elstub - Available to sponsor. Your Company Name here, get in touch today!
- Adam Garrood - Available to sponsor. Your Company Name here, get in touch today!
