Stortford opened the livelier but despite some enterprising and fast moving rugby in slippery conditions they were denied touch-downs by a now trademark Rams defence. But it was not all one-way traffic and the home side successfully scrambled their own defence in the first 40 minutes to deny the visitors any score from two charge downs and a series of battering carries that were eventually ended by a turn-over. Despite having the better opportunities the 1st half finished with Bishop’s Stortford on just a 6-0 advantage compliments of 2 well struck penalties by their fly-half and man of the match Brad Burr.

Rams kicked into gear quickly after the restart and grabbed a penalty of their own on the 43rd minute which was well struck by young fly-half Louis Ellis to halve the deficit to just 6 points. But Stortford struck back immediately, stringing together a neat series of phases through some sharp handling to eventually put number 8 Baxter Wilson over the whitewash in the corner, Burr being unable to add the extras left the score at 11-3 until another Ellis penalty cut the gap to just 5 points on the 51st minute. The scores remained unchanged for the next 20 minutes until the try of the afternoon extended the home side’s lead. Josh Stannard collected the ball in his own half and the Stortford winger zipped down the touchline and slipped the ball inside to centre James Ayrton who had a clear sprint to the line. Burr converted to make it 18-6 to Bishop’s Stortford. Rams were determined to get something from their afternoon’s efforts and hurled themselves at their opposition. Scrum half Jack Moates eventually opened-up space on his right for winger Connor Corrigan to touch-down in the corner, Ellis hitting the upright in a valiant attempt to convert from out wide.

With the gap at 7 points Rams travelling supporters still had hopes of a late converted try to give their team a draw away from home, but those hopes were dashed on the 78th minute when a superbly executed drop goal from Burr brought the score to 21-11 and that is how it stayed to the final whistle.

Despite seeing his team lose Rams’ DoR Seb Reynolds was not down hearted “We weren’t quite at our best today and we didn’t take our chances and when that happens at National 1 you simply don’t win games, but it was great to play Bishop’s Stortford again and they deserved their victory today, especially after their outstanding 2nd try” and Reynolds was full of praise for the Hertfordshire club “Bishop’s Stortford are very similar to us, they are a community club with a very big youth section and the fact that they have done well in National 1 is inspiring for all community based clubs”.

This week Rams welcome old Forest of Dean adversaries Cinderford to Old Bath Road and Reynolds has no illusions regarding the challenge that his side faces this weekend “We’ve had some fantastic battles against Cinderford in the past. They represent everything that is good about rugby, they are fiercely competitive on the pitch and generously friendly off of it, whether they have won or lost”.