The Stags went into this match looking to maintain their unbeaten run against visitors St Bernadettes Old Boys and provided a fine display of rugby for all that were spectating.

The commenced and The Stags were ruthless from the off having lots of possession of ball deep in the visitors half and it was only a few minutes into the game when full back, Alex Watkins, put himself on the score board with a well worked try out wide to take the lead. 5-0. 

Watkin’s, soon after his first, added a second try on the other side of the pitch to extend the lead to 10-0 after only 6 minutes of play.

After a frantic start, St B’s began to settle and tighten up but struggled with The Stags fire power coming at them from all angles. The Stags were using the full width of the pitch going through many phases and hitting the channels at pace.

This type pf play broke St B’s defence on many occasions and The Stag’s back’s came up with the goods yet again. This time, veteran Inside centre, Richard ‘Kiwi’ Muskett, broke through St B’s line and managed to find enough pace to break away from an oncoming player to score under the posts and the conversion was made. 17-0. Another Stag veteran, Tim Piper, was forced to leave the field with a pulled hamstring and was replaced by Winger, Louie Jones, so a reshuffle of the back line pushed Hopkins in at fly half.

St B’s had to change to their game plan, which they did for the next 15 minutes, as they didn’t over commit at the break down which allowed players to spread I the defensive line. There were times that St B’s put The Stags under pressure in their own half but a resolute defence protected the white line.

The Stags set piece was effective throughout the game as they dominated the scrums and lineouts which gave a platform for their style of play. With only a few minutes left of the first half, The Stags found themselves camped on St B’s 5m, and quick recycled ball was whipped out by Sam Lewis who spotted Hopkins running at pace and he broke through to score and seal the bonus point all before half time. Hopkins converted his own try 24-0. HT

The second half started in similar fashion as The Stags continued to be ruthless in all areas. They carried the ball well and over the gain line time after time. Replacement, Ed Lewis, made an instant impact to the game with a couple of thunderous runs and was tackled short of the line, in the latter run, so up stepped his brother at scrum half who noticed the large gap at the breakdown and dived over the ruck to score. 29-0.

Credit to St B’s as they never let their heads drop and continued to try in vein and prevent more tries but were unable to cope. After a superb passage of play by The Stags, Kiwi continued to be a menace in the back line and broke through the defence yet again to bag his second try which Hopkins converted 36-0.

As St B’s continued to struggle, penalties began to creep in and The Stags capitalised on this by pinning St B’s well within their own half with effective place kicks to touch from Hopkins. With the lineouts working well, The Stags knew what to do, so lineout won, catch ‘n’ drive and off they went trundling towards the try line and prop Stef Pierce touched down at the back of the maul to score another try with Hopkins converting 43-0.

The Catch ‘n’ Drive was so effective in the remainder of the second half it produced two further tries for front row players, Adam Peters and Chris Warner, with the latter scoring the last try of the game. This was The Stags first game of the season where no points were scored against them and clearly shows what a class defence the team have.

Final Score 53-0.

Next up is away too Stothert & Pitt this Saturday. KO is at 2.30pm.

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