Fixture

Due to the wet season this was the first time this season the sides have met. It was a vital game for both sides as a win would ease their relegation fears.

The Stars found it difficult to get into the game mainly due to HSOBs superiority at scum time; the Stars were not used to being on the back foot and found it difficult to deal with. Adam Perry at scrum half dealt well with the ball he received from a retreating scrum however unfortunately for the Stars HSOB had a scrum 5 yards from the Stars line and it looked inevitable they were going to score. From the first scrum it appeared that they messed it up before the Stars open side Ross Martin fringed offside however the ref disagreed and awarded HSOB a penalty and sent Ross to the sin bin. Obviously HSOB elected for another scrum and scored a push over a try however there was a hint of a knock on before the HSOB forward touched down but in fairness the ref was unsighted and awarded the try.

The Stars re-grouped and managed to contain the HSOBs forwards while they had a man in the sin bin. The Stars were awarded a rare penalty in front of the posts unfortunately Nathan Hughes failed to convert the 30 meter penalty and the score at half time was 7 nil.

At half time the Stars made a number of replacements; the introduction of Richard Jenkins and Ryan Hughes in the front row created a bit of parity at scrum time,  this was mainly due to their fresh legs and the mature HSOB front row starting to tire. Replacement Josh Thomas in midfield started to break their line and the second half looked more promising. From a line out the Stars forwards drove the HSOB forwards backwards and flanker Ross Martin broke from the driving maul and passed the ball to scrum half Adam Perry who made a fantastic dummy and side step to score a well worked try. Nathan Hughes kicked the difficult conversation to make the score 10-7.

The Stars continued to pressure HSOB who looked a very tired side but to be fair they defended very well to keep the Stars out however it did look as if the Stars would eventually score. Unfortunately the ref brought the game to an end with 10 minutes to go. This was a disappointing decision especially as the game was so close and could have gone either way in those last 10 minutes.

The man of the match was scrum half Adam Perry for the way he dealt with difficult ball together with the try he scored.

The next game is away to the Cheesemen on 5 March

Stars together stronger