With both Stockwood Park and Dunstablians first-team have a week off, it was a chance for the both teams second teams to take centre stage, in front of an excellent large crowd from teams all over the parish.
Both clubs respected the fixture and put out strong and balanced squads, which made for a very competitive game, as all local derbies should be and at no stage was the result determined until the final whistle was blown.
Dunstable went 12-0 up in the first 30 minutes, despite Stockwood dominating possession., an excellent score by the outside centre and then a forward maul converted, was hard to swallow, however not turning possession into points was frustrating.
On the stroke of halftime Stockwood were finally rewarded for their efforts, great strength and determination from both Craig Bassam and Mark Smith up the middle of the field, allowed Captain Dan Hooper to throw a wide pass from the ensuing ruck to set up George Simpson, who touched down out wide to clinically finish.
This gave Park not only momentum but belief into the second half and with added energy coming off the bench in the form of Paul Clarke
Tim Franks, who had a great afternoon provided a superb kicking display, with Eoin Finnerty at hooker, making some incredible breaks throughout the afternoon. Halfway through the second half Jerome Isles finished off an outstanding move, with both forwards and backs retaining possession over at least a dozen phases, to bring the scores level.
Stockwood’s pack were now dominating with consistent carries, using what had been worked on in training to great effect, with Mark Smith smashing over from 5 yards out under the posts to set up the win for Stockwood Park, ending the game 19-12.
So, a derby win for the Park, without doubt proving that with hard work in training the victory’s come along, not by coincidence but by hard work, determination and mental attitude that can only be learnt on a Tuesday and Thursday. Credit to everyone involved and a great start to the league campaign.
Squad:
- Craig Bassam 2. Eoin Finnerty 3. Mark Smith 4. Kris Dolby 5. Rob Forster
6. Harrison McIntyre 7. Trevor Hobbert 8. Luke Notman 9. Dan Hooper ©
10. Tim Franks 11. Ben Sarsfield 12. Jason Mitchell 13. George Simpson
14. Riley Gardner 15. Sean Burke 16. Jerome Isles 17. Cameron Heywood
18. Paul Clarke
Dan Hooper – Second Team Captain