Cheltenham edged out in final seconds

STROUD took a hard-fought 28-22 win at Cheltenham as a heavily contested game was dramatically decided in the final seconds, writes Tom Sansom.

The points looked to be heading to the home side after a Stroud penalty attempt struck the post in the final minutes.

Yet fortune was with the visitors, who managed to regain possession, and they clawed their way over the Tigers try line to grab a dramatic victory.

The hosts scored first on the 20-minute mark. Flanker Andy Badcock found a gap in the defence and broke through the line, before a neat offload to captain James Hillier, who passed to Alipate Laulau.

The outside centre demonstrated tricky footwork with a side-step on the winger, before running in for the opening try. The conversion was missed.

A few minutes after the restart, Stroud levelled through scrum-half Joe Hoyle, who was quick to react to a gap left at a ruck, and sprinted to the line, as the defence switched off. Kurtis Herbert kicked the conversion for a 7-5 lead, which was taken to half time.

Stroud kicked off the second half and immediately regained possession near Cheltenham five-metre line.

Fly half Dan Gordon used impressive power as he broke a tackle, before offloading to Kurtis Herbert, who dived in from short range to extend the Stroud lead.

The Tigers were quick to respond, as their powerful forwards hit multiple pick and drive moves, which led to a try over in the far-right corner. However, the wind continued to be an issue, as conversions kept missing the mark.

Stroud flanker Stewart Hendry was then alert at the scrum and picked up the ball from the back before running in another try for the away side.

This was soon followed by Tigers winger Lasarusa Frazer getting involved in a rolling maul and driving the ball over the line to narrow the deficit.

Eight minutes remained after Cheltenham regained the lead. Effective carrying from Hillier led to a chance out wide for hooker Josh Herbert. The pass didn’t find him, but a loose ball bounced nicely for the front row player, as he nudged it over the line and dived on it in the corner.

The home fans were ecstatic, yet knew they had to hold their breath, as another missed conversion left them gripping onto a 22-21 lead.

Then came a surreal end to the contest as Stroud showed great character to keep fighting until the last whistle.

But nothing should be taken away from the Cheltenham, who indicated why they are to be considered as one of the title contenders in their division.