Stowmarket faced a challenging fixture for the second week running with another away game against promotion-chasers Saffron Walden.

The first ten minutes saw penalties being awarded, first to Saffron Walden and then Stowmarket, but only the hosts converted.

Saffron Walden quickly added a further five points with a stolen line out ball that was shipped to the backs for an outstanding move, leading to a further converted try, leaving the score 13-0.

Having dominated the scrum in the previous week’s Ipswich game, Stowmarket’s forwards had to raise their game early on to gain parity against a strong pack.

As a result of this, Stowmarket saw Brad James sprint 60 metres up the line for a diving try, giving the away team a well-deserved five points.

The second half saw two early mistakes by Stowmarket resulting in a further break out try for the Saffron Walden centre which was quickly followed by a charge down and score for the home team. This saw the score reach 25-5 at full time.