Sat 15 Jan 2022
S&L 18 – 17 Stags
Saturday saw Stags lose for the first time in four games, despite a late comeback, as their troubles on the road returned on a grey day at Stewarts and Lloyds.
The men from the racecourse made the short trip to Corby with a side featuring what now seems to be the customary five changes from last week, with the returning Barnie West and JJ Ward coming into the wing berths, Ward making his first appearance after recovering from a shoulder injury sustained in pre-season, Sammy Johnson and Tyler Elstub coming in the front row, replacing Matt Murphy and Luca Proietti, who was away at a Yoga retreat, and lastly Thomas Davies-Parratt in for Liam Findlay at number 8,
A good start to the game saw Stags applying early pressure which was rewarded with 3 points from the reliable boot of full back Joe Hicken after 6 minutes of play. This was, however, as good as it got for Huntingdon for a large part of the game, as the home side began to exert pressure through their combative pack, and as has been a theme in recent weeks, Huntingdon found themselves in penalty trouble, with the home side taking the opportunity to level the scores with a penalty after 10 minutes, before adding to their tally with another after 15 minutes to lead 6-3.
For the remainder of the first half, Huntingdon struggled to gain a foothold in either possession or territory, with any good work constantly undone by falling foul to the referee’s whistle, conceding no less than 14 penalties in the opening stanza. The home side duly took advantage of this, scoring their first try of the game with 40 minutes on the clock, from a textbook catch and drive after kicking a penalty to the corner, before producing a carbon copy deep into injury time, taking an 18-3 lead into the break and giving Huntingdon a lot to consider over their half time oranges.
Whatever was said at half time apparently had no immediate effect, as Barnie West conceded a penalty with almost with the first act of the second half, and duly paid the price for the sins of those who went before him with a yellow card.
Having successfully weathered the 10 minutes with fourteen men, Stags as last rallied and played their best rugby, resulting in a try for Sammy Johnson from close range, with Dan Malem adding the extras with a drop-kicked conversion to make it an 8-point game going into the last quarter.
Buoyed by the Johnson score, Stags set about the 8 point deficit with vigour, upping the pace and moving the ball wider, giving West a yard of space on the left wing to burst towards the tryline, being hauled down ten yard short, before spinning the ball back to the right wing to the waiting Jamie Gunn, who beat a scrambling defender before offloading to the supporting Bodge Saunders to score in the corner on 75 minutes. Hicken duly added the extras with a superbly struck conversion from the touchline to set up a grandstand finish.
As the game moved deep into time added on, Stags relentless applied pressure, West again being released down the left wing before being half-tackled and then stumbling over short of the line. As the final whistle came, Stags were camped on the S&L 5 metre line, but ultimately fell short in a game of two halves, with the losing bonus point providing small comfort.
A frustrated and disappointed Stags Head Coach Reggie Reid said after the game: “We were our own worst enemy, we gave up field position and possession with silly, and very avoidable, penalties which directly lead to their points. We showed good character in the second half to shut them out, but the damage was done, and we just ran out of time to get it back. The best team didn’t win, but we have some work to do before we entertain Peterborough in the cup next weekend. We’ll be looking for a positive response at training this week, ahead of settling the matter on Saturday.”
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