A 'ding dong' battle on Saturday 21st September saw Stowe come off second best against a determined Solihull side.
Stowe were under pressure right from kick off when the Solihull fly half, who was impressive with the boot all game, but a high and hanging kick off on the 10m line and Stowe struggled to claim it. A penalty for holding on was awarded and Solihull went 3-0 up early on.
Solihull maintained momentum, carrying hard into contact, and with Stowe showing a lack of intent to get up off the defensive line, Solihull were on the front foot and making good ground. This left a Stowe defence scrambling and we were beaten round the outside for the first try of the game.
After 10 minutes of the game, Stowe got their systems going, with pick and goes and one out runners being used in combination to good effect. This lead to David Richards crashing over having broken their defence down. Stowe were looking hesitant in attack and mistakes were being made to frequently from knock-ons and turnovers at ruck which meant that we never took them through enough phases to attack against disorganised defence.
Solihull scored another through a strong run from their evasive outside centre, who had too much space on the blindside.
Cameron Irving was doing his best at full back, fielding lots of kicks and returning them well, with interest.
Two injuries to key players, Harry Wilson and Nathan Goje, hampered Stowe's flow and energy in the game. These two big ball carriers were missed, with their ability to get us over the gain line.
Having been 18-12 down at half time, Stowe had the chance to make the 2nd half a different affair. Cameron Irving cleared a ball up field and it was bouncing in the opposition 22, he chased the kick and found himself winning the footrace to the ball, showing great pace to score.
Solihull rallied to score several other tries late in the 2nd half, to take a deserved win.
Stowe will work on their organisation in defence in the coming weeks to ensure we are more watertight, but also look at how we can use all of the weapons and systems in our playbook to mix up our attack and become less predictable to defend against.
Stowe showed heart and good effort, for which all the players should be proud. They get an early chance to put it right with a cup game on Tuesday 24th on the North Front.
MOM - Cameron Irving