RAMS climbed to fourth in the National One table with a hard-fought 17-5 home win against Bishop’s Stortford.
The visitors came into the contest on the back of a four-match unbeaten run, but it was Rams who made the early running and they deservedly took the lead when London Irish loanee Tarek Haffar – the National One Player of the Week following his display at Rosslyn Park – smashed his way over from close range after a surging rolling maul had been brought down just short of the line.
Stortford rallied and showed their attacking intent when getting over the Rams line, only for the ball to be held up, but the home side continued to have the better of the set-piece with their line-out functioning smoothly and the scrum gradually getting on top.
Moreover, the maul continued to be a highly efficient weapon and eventually led to the second try of the afternoon.
Again it was not quite able to get over the line, but another short-range effort, this time from returning centre Kieran Leicester, pushed the hosts into a 10-0 lead at half-time.
Stortford came roaring out of the blocks, however, streaming forward before efficiently spreading the ball wide for wing Josh Stannard to cross on the right-hand side.
Things got worse for Rams when hooker Max Hayman was sin-binned for making contact with a player in the air, but the hosts’ experience shone through as they ran down the clock during those 10 minutes with a succession of scrums in the Stortford 22.
Yet Stortford, well marshalled by their impressive fly-half Alfie Orchard, remained well and truly in the contest despite spending much of the game on the back foot.
Rams’ dominance of both possession and territory eventually bore fruit, though, and after several phases battering away at the visitors’ line, they finally grabbed their third score of the afternoon when Ollie Taylor dived over on the left from close range.
A magnificent touchline conversion from Drew Humberstone pushed his side 12 points in front, and Rams continued to play in their opponents’ half as they searched for the bonus-point.
They came close on a number of occasions – most notably when substitute Jak Rossiter was held up just short of the line – but the Hertfordshire side continued to show tremendous resolve in keeping their opponents at bay.
Indeed Stortford at times also showed their danger with some swift handling, but in reality it was a solid and well-deserved Rams display which gave them a sixth win in seven games since the turn of the year.
Leading from the front were the outstanding Jamie Guttridge and skipper Robbie Stapley, whose ball carrying and leadership were notable throughout.
By Richard Ashton
