Worthing 51, Basingstoke 3pts

ON A cold and wet day on the South Coast, 'Stoke were taught a lesson by the London one league leaders who played effective rugby and made few errors.

'Stoke got off to a poor start on Saturday when, on two minutes, Worthing won possession on the 10-metre line and their No 8 evaded four poor attempts at a tackle to set up the opening score and a 7-0 lead.

Worthing were winning a plentiful supply of ball but resolute defence by 'Stoke kept them out.

Although the home team missed a penalty on eight minutes, it was not until 19 minutes that they scored again, with a penalty.

From the restart, 'Stoke were awarded a penalty that Sebastian Berti narrowly pushed wide, but this was the start of a period of pressure by the visitors.

Unfortunately, on 25 minutes, in the home team's 22, possession was given away with a chip that was marked by the full back.

He very soon turned defence into attack by taking a quick tap and launched a counter attack that went from five metres from their own line to a score and 15-0 lead.

Just three minutes later when under pressure in their own 22, a misdirected pass from a 'Stoke player, instead of clearing their lines, kept the pressure on.

From the following passage of play, Worthing scored for another five points.

On 32 minutes, Berti converted a penalty to reduce the score to 20-3, but Worthing came back immediately when more missed tackles allowed another five points for the home side.

Again from the restart 'Stoke were awarded a penalty which Berti again pushed wide to leave the half-time score 25-3 to the home team.

The second half was mainly dominated by Worthing with a few visits by 'Stoke into the opposition's 22 and the need for some resolute defending.

From a neutral point of view, it was a good example by Worthing of how to keep the ball. Even on a wet afternoon, they made very few errors.

The home side scored tries on 53, 57, 70 and 75 minutes with three conversions, to leave the final score 51-3.

When 'Stoke did win ball they lacked the penetration to break down a well-organised defence who were a lot more streetwise in their play.

Speaking afterwards, 'Stoke coach Jim Dixon said: "That is the level we must aspire to if we are to not only compete but win games.

"You can see why Worthing are leading the league and how they play, not only in their units but as a team.

"They kept us on our back foot and continually recycled the ball to give us very little chance to clear our lines.

"We now have a week off to plan for our next game where we can work hard in training to look for another home win."

'Stoke: Lucas, Rogers, Feausi, Calder, White, Berti, Byett (Humberstone); Collins, Perkins, Rushworth (Bushnall), Wilson, Northcote, Hampson, Northcote (Reece), Dixon.