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A 76th minute try stole away what well may have been the Western Force's first victory. As a consolation, the Force do walk away with a bonus point for keeping the margin less that 7 points, 3 points less than they deserved, but they are off the mark! Force 25, Stormers 26
24,507 would have taken the roof off an enclosed stadium when Shepherd went over for a try just 2 minutes in. 15 minutes later Shepherd also put through a penalty stretching the Force lead to 10 - 0. It was game on and everyone got that little sniff of a possible victory. Unfortunately 2 tries in as many minutes by the Stormers brought the fact that we were playing Super14 Rugby against an established team crashing back. Half time break the Force trailed by a single point 13-14
An early Stormers try in the 2nd half was matched by a set piece Staniforth try 10 minutes later - Force 18, Stormers 21. The fresh legs of Henjak and McIssac came on at the 60 minute mark to the cheers of the crowd. 5 minutes later new comer DeBartolo was over for an inspired try with a chip up and over the Stormers defence and the sort favourable bounce you can only get at a home ground - Force 25, Stormers 21. 4 point lead, 14 minutes to play and the roar from the crowd is deafening!
The Force valiantly held off 10 minutes of concentrated Stormer attack, but alas the Stormers scored a try from a 5 metre scrum with just 4 minutes to go. Force 25, Stromers 26. A weary Western Force could do little more than hold off a renewed and agressive Stromer attack for the last 4 minutes - Final Score 25-26 to the Stormers.
On the back of their first real showing as a Force to be reckoned with against the Bulls last week - the Force have proved that they *can* play 80 minutes of Rugby at Super 14 level.
Well Done Force!