Stanford 2nd XV 35 Romford 4th XV 12

Stanford 2nd XV continued their winning ways with an exciting and bruising Merit table Semi Final match against old foes Romford 4th team. Romford brought a much strengthened team than the one that Stanford had beaten just a month earlier. As usual, Stanford started slowly and put themselves under pressure from the off, but despite this poor start it was Stanford who opened the scoring with a powerful forwards move that ended with veteran Reece Anderson blasting his way over the line to score. No 10, Grant Ferguson easily slotted over the conversion.

Romford raised their game and put together an assault on the Stanford line and were rewarded with a try, but with the conversion missed the home team still held the lead. It was a very tense first half and the referee had to work hard to keep discipline on the pitch. Tony Goshmanski replaced prop Micky Cook, who was injured. After a period of pressure down the blindside, Stanford unleashed their backs and Grant Ferguson battered his way over the line to score. Another successful conversion by ace kicker Ferguson and Stanford stretched the lead to 14 – 5.

The second half started more convincingly for the home team after a rousing half time talk by skipper Russell Jackson, and replacement winger Jack Davidson scored a well worked try after Ferguson made a dubious long pass that somehow bounced neatly for the Stanford player. The No10 kicked a good kick from wide out and the noisy Romford spectators were silenced.

The Stanford pack was dominant in set pieces and the front row partnership of Cumbers, Payne and Goshmanski won numerous balls against the feed, demoralizing the visitors. Unfortunately after such a good start, on receiving the kick-off No 8 Paul Newberry made an error and a loose pass was collected by a Romford player and a try scored. A determined restart by the home team saw Newberry make amends immediately by scoring an excellent individual try under the posts. Ferguson again slotted the conversion.

The Stanford back row of Aaron Smith, Dean Barter and Paul Newberry were kept busy all game and defended well making tackle after tackle on the hard, unforgiving pitch. There were a number of unpleasant incidents during the game and a Romford player was yellow carded and later the same player Red carded.

However, the game was all but dead and buried when giant flanker Scott Martin made another clean catch at the lineout and fed prop forward Tony Cumbers, who smashed his way through the defenders to score a superb try. Ferguson again kicked the extra points to keep his 100% record for the day. Liam Morley had a solid game at full back standing in for an injured Mark Lennon, who broke a toe the day before the match.

Final score Stanford 2nd XV 35 Romford & Gidea Park 4th XV 12.

An elated captain Russell Jackson was over the moon with his team's performance and praised their efforts against strong opposition. Stanford will now face Westcliff 4th XV in the merit table final on Saturday 18th April at Thurrock RFC.