Stratford 16s impress at Syston 7s

Date: 26-04-2009
Venue: away
Opponents: Syston 7's festival
Result: "A" - Semifinalists in Cup, "B" - Finalists i

Stratford took 2 teams to the Syston Sevens Festival on 26 April and impressed with the "A" team reaching the semi-finals of the Cup competition and the "B" team reaching the final of the Plate competition.
The "A" Team reached the semi finals after impressive wins over South Leicester by 53 points to nil with tries from Dave Rooney, Jonny Carroll, Tom Price, Joe Gravestock, Joe Hollis and Dominic Lorimer and also a good win against Lichfield by 28 points to 17 with Rooney, Price, Gravestock and Lorimer amongst the scorers.  A narrow defeat by hosts Syston "A" in the final pool game put them into a semi-final against Nuneaton.  After a promising start with scores from Price and Carroll, Stratford eventually ran out of steam and had to settle for being losing semi-finalists.
In the other pool, Stratford "B" mainly made up of front 5 forwards and thus lacking in pace, succumbed first to Oadby and Wigston by 45 points to 5 with Hollis scoring a solo effort and then were drubbed 53 points to nil by Nuneaton.  A sprited preformance against Syston "B" saw them win with tries by Adam Snow, Hollis again and a surprised Alex Shellum.  This set them up with a semi final clash in the Plate competition with South Leicester and Snow and Hollis again combined to score,  Sebastian Le Feurvre touched down after an exhausting run and  Ben Mitchell scored after breaking through a number of tackles. A penetrative run from Grant Harmon from half way enabled Stratford to progress through to the final against Lichfield.  Unfortunately, injuries to Richard Griffiths, Tom Field and Harmon meant that the exhausted Stratford were simply too fatigued and Lichfield eventually ran out comfortable winners.