Staines 52 - 22 Drifters

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Drifters travelled to Staines for their pre season game with a squad of 20 including 7 new caps.

It was Drifters who got off to the better start with some controlled rugby and territory eventually breaking blind where Chris Double beat the opposite defender to touch down for the first try of the game. Staines hit back with two quick tries both from kick throughs where Drifters were not able to clear their lines properly. Drifters then took control for another spell and Simon Heeks burst through from 10m and scored taking two defenders with him. We measured the run after the game just to make sure, although this was up to 40m by the time we got back to the club followed by urgent calls to close family to check if his try bonus was still a thing.

Staines found a footfall and their back three started to do some real damage alongside some heavy runs from their big number 8. Drifters got back into the game with a great catch and drive that saw Carl Coracan touching down near the corner. Just as it it seemed the game might be finishing for a tense final Staines moved away on the scoreboard with a further couple of tries. Drifters weren’t done however and scored from a quick tap penalty with Olly Gyyb breaking trough. The last 10 minutes saw Staines run in three tries which flattered the score board a bit however they deserved the win. Staines had more players and were certainly the fitter team going into the last 20 however Drifters were pleased with large parts of the performance and all the new caps stood up and did their part.

Next up we return to league action against some local rivals we haven’t seen for a few seasons. Special mention must go to our flying number 8 Ben Holdship who had to come off with a nasty hamstring injury and Kyle Night for his MOM performance.

8 Sep 2022