Staines 13pts, Basingstoke 13

STOKE managed to grind out a point at Staines on Saturday in an uninspiring game.

In the first half Stoke minds were elsewhere and if Staines had a confident goal kicker, the game could have been finished in the first half.

Staines opened the scoring on 24 minutes when two phrases of play from a lineout allowed the Staines left winger to score in the corner.

Staines missed the conversion and also had three kickable penalties before the try.

Staines extended their lead on the stroke of half-time with a penalty after changing their kicker.

Stoke only managed two serious attacks in the first half which was possibly their worst display of the season so far.

The second half improved slightly when the Stoke forwards got a bit fired up, winning some decent ball for the backs and managing to string together two or three good periods of play.

They created a try for Jason Rees on 58 minutes when two quick tap and goes enabled him to crash over.

Calder converted to make it 8-7 to Staines. The home side then missed two penalties one of which was straight in front of the posts, Stoke took advantage of this and took the lead on 22 minutes with a penalty through Calder which put Stoke 10-7 up.

Staines replied with a try when they turned over a Stoke scrum and scored on 72 minutes.

The visitors hit back as Calder converted a penalty from 40 metres out as his kick hit the bar and scraped over.

The last eight minutes of the game was a stalemate and most of the play was around the halfway line.

There was some positives that came from the game, though, which included the grit and determination shown in the second half to gain a point and the lineouts which man-of-the-match Andy Wilson performed particularly well in.

Considering that Stoke won the second half 13-5 and only competed for 15 out of the 80 minutes, it begs the question why the away form differs so much from the winning ways shown at home.

Afterwards, an indignant Calder said of the overall performance: "This was very much a point won."

Basingstoke: Gareth Jones, Rafer Joseph, Jason Rees, Neal Taylor, Robbie Holmes, Ian Calder, Scott Taylor, Richard Baker, Marcus Reeve, Adrian Hopkins (Simon Appleby), Andy Wilson, Steve Drawbridge, Steve Buttle, Ash Riley, Neil Young. Reps (not used) Stuart Paynter, Matt Evans.