With centre Nils Mordt starting at No8 the Maids pack had a different look about it but immediately took control. A series of good driving mauls saw Maids quickly down Stratford's end only for the home fly half to launch the ball back with a massive kick down the sloping pitch. Good defence with a big kick at the end of it was to be a feature of the home side's game until after 15 minutes a series of driving mauls from Maids own half set the backs away on a sweeping move which used the full width of the pitch in both directions and ended with winger Damien Bell bursting over for Maids first try. Under heavy pressure from Maids forwards, Stratford launched another high kick deep into Maids territory from which Stratford won a penalty and chose to take the three points. Maids returned to the attack with powerful running from forwards Chris Cracknell and Christian Pedersen setting up another flowing move from the backs with winger Ian Lee's explosive run narrowly failing to add to the score. Moments later, however Maids got their just reward. Hooker Simon Ball took a scrum against the head and Nils Mordt and Gareth Edwards combined to punch a hole in the Stratford defence, releasing centre Stuart Douglas for Maids second try, which Mordt converted to put Maids 12-3 ahead. Despite some excellent sniping runs by fly half Daniel Martin the Stratford defence held firm for the remainder of the first half.

With the advantage of the slope in the second half Maids very quickly were on the home side's doorstep with some good forward work by props Chris Young and Terry Rainer setting flanker Charlie Branch on a galloping run. Good lineout work by Adam O'Reilly set up another Ian Lee run which ended just short of the tryline and enabled Stratford to kick Maids back to their own half. Relief was temporary however as centre Matt Ansell launched a sweeping attack that resulted in fullback Anthony Lane scoring in the corner. The relentless pressure took its toll on the home team and the rest of the game was very disjointed with stoppages for niggling infringements. The win was rather more comfortable than the final score of 17-3 suggests and with a little more concentration the points tally would have been higher.