Stratford scored thirty eight points in the second half of this match, thus condemning Walsall to their heaviest defeat of the season, so far. Although they, like Walsall, are only placed in mid-table, the Warwickshire team have amassed nearly a hundred points during their two games against the Delves Road team this season.
But this landslide Stratford victory did not seem possible for the first thirty minutes of this match. An Andy Hawkins penalty and a fine Chris Mould try had made the scores level with less than ten minutes of the first half remaining. But the hosts had already shown that they were keen to run the ball at every opportunity, and a fine counter attack from near their own line saw them cover the length of the field to score. This was followed by another burst through the midfield for another try which saw them establish a 20 – 10 lead at the interval.
But, even with a ten point deficit, the visiting group of supporters were still reasonably optimistic of a Walsall comeback. They had witnessed a strong performance by the Walsall pack, with the hosts conceding penalties and being very, very fortunate in not receiving any yellow cards. The visitors soon established some good attacking positions during the opening fifteen minutes of the second half, with some strong scrummaging and forward drives creating scoring opportunities. Indeed, the scrummage proved to be a crucial area of this match. Although the hosts were being driven back regularly, the referee would often penalise Walsall, thus giving the hosts the opportunity to clear their lines. It was therefore rather ironical and extremely unfair for the referee to sinbin hooker Jimmy Scott for an offside violation after fifteen minutes of the restart. This proved to be a crucial period, as the hosts scored four tries to make it 44 – 10 before the visitors were back to full strength. Two more scores in the final eight minutes consigned the West Midlands team to their heaviest league defeat in three years.