Thurrock
Nub News Logo
Nub News

A memorable and hard-fought win for Stanford

By Nub News Reporter 19th Oct 2025

The winning Stanford squad.
The winning Stanford squad.

Stanford-le-Hope 20, Upminster 19

A MATCH-winning penalty and a Herculean defensive effort through the last two minutes earned Stanford a well-deserved victory in a thoroughly enjoyable match at the Rec on Saturday (18 October).

Depleted in numbers by injury and unavailability. Stanford were literally down to the bare bones with players stepping in to fill the gaps who haven't played for some time.

Not one of them took a step backwards during the match and Stanford thoroughly deserved the victory that was celebrated on and off the pitch by the enthusiastic club members, who went on to enjoy an Oktoberfest club night.

Bavarian backing for Stanford on the touchline.

The match was closely contested throughout, with both packs putting in a mountain of work. Stanford took the lead through an unconverted Richard Thompson try, only for Upminster to battle back to score and lead 7-5. A Stanford try from Matt Rumble converted by captain Dominic McDonald gave the home side the advantage again, only for the visitors to level at 12-12 with their second try.

McDonald then crossed the line to score himself gave Stanford a 17-12 lead going into the last third of the London and South East Counties One Essex clash.

At that point Upminster began to dominate as an attacking force but they were repeatedly stopped between the halfway and 22m lines by robust Stanford defending which usually ended with them turning over passion and relieving their lines with a kick – giving time to set up for the next onslaught.

It wasn't until inside the last ten minutes that they finally cracked, Upminster running the ball across their backs several times before squeezing over with a diving effort right in the corner to level the scores at 17-17. A superb conversion put the visitors ahead and it looked curtains for Stanford, especially when the restart was kicked directly into tough and the reset scrum in the middle invited more pressure.

But they dug deep, responded with some more great tackling and eventually forced a counterattack which was rewarded with a penalty midway between posts and touchline around the 22m line.

All went quiet while McDonald set the ball on the tee and then home supporters and players erupted with a cheer as the ball split the posts, leaving Stanford about two minutes to hand on.

They spent those defending desperately and Upminster were just inches from the line when they turned over the ball following heroic last ditch tackles and conceded a penalty which was kicked into touch and the final whistle rang out for a memorable Stanford win.

Stanford: Ben Kelly, Harry Taylor, Harry Tillett, Lewis Cross, Finlay Maher, Jack Sylvester, Dominic McDonald, Gary Burke, Jamie Reason, James Hutcherson, Richard Thomson, Elonas Butrimas, Gareth Beach, Ryan Blyde, Matthew Rumble. Replacements: Alfie Desmond, Kyle Munro, Jack Pearce.

The London and South East Counties One Essex league table

Share:

Sign-up for our FREE newsletter...

We want to provide thurrock with more and more clickbait-free news.

     

...or become a Supporter.
Thurrock. Your Borough. Your News.

Local news is essential for our community — but it needs your support.
Your donation makes a real difference.
For monthly donators:
Ad-free experience