Trowbridge travelled to the Cotswolds for the second consecutive week when they came to Stow in a rearranged game that succumbed to the weather in the first week of the new year. The conditions were wet and windy. The entire first half was spent deep in the visitors half with both sides understandably having difficulty in keeping the ball in hand and this caused numerous stoppages.

Despite a number of chances the first score came when Stow fly half Oliver Clements kicked a penalty from the ten yard line half way through the first half, but by that time Trowbridge had lost their centre Ali Frost with a head injury, when the referee refused to let him continue when the player and the Trowbridge physio ready for him to continue on five minutes. Trowbridge also lost both captain Rory Murchison and flanker Ben Mallett to yellow cards, reducing them to thirteen players for the best part of ten minutes during this period. Stow battered the Trowbridge line but the defence held out miraculously until just before the break when Stow wing Cameron Tyler went over for a try converted by Clements to make the interval score 10-0.

Trowbridge reduced the arrears soon into the second half when Rory Murchison barged over with a run from the base of the scrum. Tom Weaver who had come on for Frost converted but as play progressed, Stow’s scrum half Jamie Gibb became more influential. Handling became more and more a lottery, but both sides also played some excellent running rugby in the circumstances. As the game drew towards a close Stow drew away when left wing Freddie Roberts scored in the corner, and soon after appeared to go over again, said the reporter stood at the other end of the field. However the referee thought otherwise and gave a goal line drop out. This brought relief as Stow continued to attack and broker though the middle to score again, a try converted to take them three scores ahead. With five minutes to go, Trowbridge threw the ball around. The ball twice went to Wing Alex Christopher who twice outpaced the Stow defence to score tries. In haste the first conversion was missed by Weaver but he made the second from the left land touch line. This took them to within one score. An attack came back to the winger from the kick off who was held as he went for the winning try on the 22. The scrum was won and the ball was brought into the 22, where it was knocked on and the final whistle was blown.

This could easily have been a most unlikely victory after being three scores behind with five minutes to go, but the truth is that Stow deserved to win in a match that they should have been out of sight in the first half, despite the visitors being on the wrong side of the referee’s whistle, in their opinion, in the first half, discipline definitely affected their prospects.

Next week the Doric Park side host Thornbury and this result probably finishes any optimism to finish in the top couple of places.

Head Coach Ali Lund said "We've had a fantastic season, and I'm incredibly proud of the effort the boys put in today. It was a tough, physical contest, and we came up just short, but the fight and commitment were there until the final whistle. Sometime, results don't go your way, but what matters now is how we react. We've got a big game next week, and the focus is on bouncing back in the right way."