MK Master The Elements at Stow

It took Milton Keynes half the match to master the difficult conditions at Stow on 2nd November. With a powerful wind blowing across the pitch the visitors struggled in the first half. Stow, familiar with the home conditions of a ground set high above the town were able to play to their strengths.
City were on their back heels with Stow attacking well and dominating the game for the first 10 minutes . The first score came from the home side after the visitors defence was finally breached. With the strong wind the kickers had a torrid time and conversions were hard to come by. Stow were 5 points up.
City didn't help themselves with a flurry of penalties awarded against them for persistently being off side in the view of the referee. It was 20 minutes into the game before City were able to offer a decent attack against Stow. Dan Pearson collected the ball and with 10 metres to the Stow try line passed the ball to Dan Rolfe who powered his way over the line. Powell was unable to convert the try from close to the touchline.
The visitors continued to struggle with the conditions and their inability to please the referee over the offside law. Rob Matthews eventually paid the penalty of persistent penalties and spent 10 minutes in the sin bin. City were able to defend for the remainder of the half without conceding any further points.
Kevin Papworth, managing the team, was able to give a sterling talk at half time which resulted in a change of tactics. Playing with a slight headwind the object of the second half was to keep possession as much as possible. The City forwards now dominated open play with determined rucking and malling giving the away team control of the game. This quickly resulted in City taking the lead in the second half. Fly half Phil Powell made a decisive break from just inside the Stow half. Avoiding a number of tackles he charged towards the Stow try line before being half stopped. He had the foresight to pop the ball to Rob Lasbrey who had followed the break and deserved the reward of a try. City were now 5 points ahead and looking more like the team at the top of the table.
The City forwards continued an impressive period of rucking and malling with Stow unable to compete. The away team worked their way towards the Stow try line with Ollie Fountain having the final possession and diving over to make the score 5 - 17.
Stow weren't prepared to lie down and with just minutes to go they were able to score, what turned out to be a consolation try. This followed an intensive period of time close to the MK try line and a number of penalties being awarded to the home team. Stow opted for a number of scrums confident that could breach the City defence. To their credit the visitors held out for some 10 minutes before conceding the try.
Stow were eager to restart the game being just 7 points behind with minutes to go. In their eagerness to score a further try a pass went astray and left winger Dan Pearson gratefully collected a stray pass to seal the MK victory. Powell was able to convert despite it being a challenging kick with the wind being a major factor throughout the game.
City remain top of the table just one point ahead of their rivals Bletchley. Their next match is away against lowly Wallingford who have just one win in the season. City will be aware that there are no easy matches in the league and will have to travel determined to progress their 6 consecutive wins in the league.