On Saturday afternoon, the Stags welcomed Nailsea and Backwell to the Pit for another important fixture in the race for the playoff spot. Nailsea came in on the back of a defeat to Old Reds, who they claim played 18 National 2 players, and the Stags entered the game, following three 5 point wins against Yatton, Imperial and Weston respectively.
Piper started the game from the middle with a kick that was rather shy of the 10m line, which resulted in a Nailsea scrum. After a few phases, Nailsea were looking to throw the ball wide but Burnham left a huge space by the ruck that the 9 spotted and coasted in to score (0-5). The next restart went 10m but was gathered by the Ravens. The Stags kept them in their half, forced the error and sent the ball through several pair of hands, before Eoghan Westhoff wriggled though to dot down. Piper converted (7-5). Nailsea restarted, the ball was gathered, after some good pressure. The ruck was set up and then the ball went through the hands with Hopkins, Holder and Watkins picking off their back line. With work still to do, Ryan Beard busted his way over the line, as he has done so many times this year (12-5). Shortly after, the stags were applying pressure in the Nailsea 22 and Holder found a gap and ran a good line, scoring under the posts. Piper with the extras (19-5). Ryan Beard continued to impose himself on his opposite number and was a handful for the whole game. Ryan picked the ball up just inside the 10m line and it seemed as though the Nailsea defenders would deal with him but once again, he wriggled, twisted, turned and managed to get it down. (Piper with the extras 26-5). As the half progressed, the Stags were looking dangerous and with every attack, there was intent and a constant threat. Alex Watkins got the next one, after some good work from the backs, cutting through like a knife through hot butter to score under the posts. Piper converted (33-5). At this point, Nailea’s heads had dropped and Eoghan got his second, following a sublime offload from Chris Warner. Piper added the extras (40-5). With 5 minutes of the half remaining, Nailsea put some phases together but were unable to convert. Half time score: 40-5.

The second half had a very different feel to it. Nailsea had clearly been given instructions to do as much as they could to dent the lead and put in a 40 that they could go away feeling positive about. Nailsea had more bite to them and although they were being quite one dimensional, they were getting over the gain line and making inroads. Burnham’s D seemed to drop slightly and the lack of line speed gave them front foot ball. With the Stags half asleep, Nailsea bagged a try, which was converted (40-12). The Stags responded well with Piper and Beard connecting well. Piper received an inside pass from Beard and dotted down (45-12). Nailsea refused to roll over and after some dubious refereeing decisions around the maul, a Raven player managed to score and the extras were added (45-19).Nailsea scored again shortly after and really had their tails up, after securing a four try bonus point (45-26). The final try of the game belonged to the Stags, who after another infringement from the Nailsea second row, put the ball into the corner. The throw was long but Eoghan gathered at the back and bustled his way over to complete his hatrick.
With the game in the bag, the Stags let themselves down in the second half with poor defending, poorer attitudes and ultimately not concentrating. In these big, upcoming games, the Stags have to put in more complete performances to ensure they get the results they are capable of. That being said, the first half was outstanding and the Stags were a real handful. Players worked hard for each other, made things difficult for them and were too strong. Next week, the Stags face Hornets 2s, looking to secure second place and Burnham 2s make the trip to Winscombe to follow up on their emphatic win against Martock.

Thank you for all of your support yesterday and throughout the year and as we move into the business end of the season with a cup final and potential playoff, we look forward to hopefully giving you more to cheer about. As players, we know we have come a long way since last season but we also know we have so much more to give.
COYBH
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