STRATFORD-upon-Avon RFC lost 24-7 away at Shipston-on-Stour as the visitors suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time since October.
Stratford’s only try came from Charlie Powell with Dan Whitby kicking the conversion as Shipston registered 24 unanswered points at Mayo Road.
And the result means Stratford sit seventh in the Regional 2 Midlands West table
The visitors made a strong start but were unable to break through a well organised Shipston defence before Whitby sent a penalty attempt to the left of the posts from just outside the 22.
Stratford remained camped in the Shipston half for the first quarter of the game as Powell eventually found a way through on the half-hour mark with Whitby adding the extras.
Shipston hit the post with a penalty attempt following a rare foray into the Stratford half as the visitors took a seven-point lead into the break despite dominating for large periods.
And the home side restored parity at the start of the second period after a number of pick and go drives resulted in a try.
Shipston completed the turnaround soon after when an overthrow at a lineout set up a scoring chance as Stratford winger Jacob Kinnaird prevented a try in the corner only for the home side to utilise the blind side and touch down.
After the restart, Shipston had a player sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tip tackle before losing another player to a yellow card for repeated offside offences which left the home side two-men short for a four-minute period.
However, Stratford were unable to make their numerical advantage count after the referee deemed the visitors to have knocked-on in the act of scoring a try.
Kinnaird made another try-saving tackle soon after before Stratford’s Sam James received a yellow card as the visitors continued to question the referee’s decisions.
And Shipston scored their third try just a few phases later before dotting down under the posts five minutes from time to leave Stratford scoreless in the second period.
