Basingstoke 49pts Old Patesians 8

BASINGSTOKE continued their recent good form to knock Old Patesians off second spot.

The FX-backed home side ran out deserved winners after a good all-round display, scoring seven tries to avenge September's defeat at the hands of the Gloucestershire side.

'Stoke started the better of the two teams and took the lead with an Ian Calder penalty after four minutes.

Old Pats responded with a penalty to level the scores but from then on it was all 'Stoke as they scored 46 unanswered points.

Chris Norton scored the first try as he was quickest to reach a Calder kick and touch down in the corner.

The lead was extended after 27 minutes when Tom Dean scrambled over after a well-worked move from a scrum.

Calder converted well from the touchline for a 15-3 lead.

Calder added his second penalty as 'Stoke looked to finish the game before half-time but they couldn't find the killer touch and settled for an 18-3 lead at the break.

Playing with a strong wind in the second half, Old Pats were expected to hit back but it was 'Stoke who again made all the running.

They pressed straight from the restart and were rewarded after only 44 minutes when in-form Selwyn St Bernard crashed through several tackles to score under the posts.

Calder's conversion gave Stoke a 22-point lead.

The game was wrapped up eight minutes latter when Dean scored his second try of the game. Calder's conversion made the score 32-3.

He completed his hat-trick after 61 minutes when brilliant ball retention eventually put him over in the corner.

'Stoke weren't going to stop there and two Old Pats players were sin-binned for separate incidents, handing the home side an advantage that they didn't really need.

They added two more tries.

Calder crossed, only to find it disallowed for a forward pass, before Yann Cullum latched on to a Neal Taylor chip to the corner.

'Stoke then rung the changes as Steve Buttle, Selwyn St Bernard and Calder were replaced by Rob Northcote, Marcus Reeve and Neil Young.

The changes didn't upset their rhythm though as Dave Lambert completed the home scoring with a converted try after Stoke had stolen Old Pats' lineout ball.

The visitors did get a consolation try with the last move of the game. After Kelvin Chapman had been harshly sin-binned, they produced a pushover try to leave the final score at 49-8.

After the game Calder said: "It was an excellent team performance that produced a brilliant win."

He was quick to praise the unsung workhorses of the team like the front row of Collins, Buttle and Evans and other forwards Drawbridge, Chapman and St Bernard.

"At times our defence was awesome and we restricted the opposition from playing. We need to continue in this form to enable us to move up the table and, after beating the second in the league, it shows the spirit we have in the team."

Basingstoke: C Norton; Y Cullum, J Rees, N Taylor, D Lambert; I Calder (rep R Northcote), T Dean; S Collins, M Evans, S Buttle (rep N Young), S Drawbridge, K Chapman, P Della-Savina, R Baker(capt), S St Bernard (rep M Reeve).