MAN-OF-THE-MATCH Dan Swain believes the hard work is paying off as RAMS made it back-to-back wins with a 26-14 home triumph against Bishop’s Stortford on Saturday.

The second row produced an all-action display which included his first try, his side’s second during a stunning start which ultimately proved crucial in the win.

Max Hayman had earlier opened the scoring before scrum-half Ollie Allan got the third, Will Partington’s trio of conversions making it 21-0 after just 17 minutes.

The bonus-point try was scored by Charlie Robson midway through the third quarter, and while Connor Lloyd and Alex Rayment went over for the visitors, they were always kept at arms length in a fractious contest which saw Stortford receive five yellow cards.

RAMS picked up two in the final 10 minutes as Sean McDonnell-Roberts and Swain were involved in a couple of scuffles, but neither proved decisive.

Reflecting on the game, summer signing Dan – who has played in all but one of RAMS’ 15 games so far – said: “We started really well and were very physical up front – they came here very confident they could win but our defence held out.

“We let them back in it a little in the second half when a few yellow cards changed the alteration of the game, but all in all, it was a really good effort.

“It was one of my best performances for the club despite being a bit nervous before the game with my leg.

“But it ended up being fine, I got my hands on the ball quite well and things worked out well.”

Having started the season with a club record 11 bonus-point wins, RAMS were beaten twice in a row by leaders Sale and Cinderford, but Dan believes the show is back on the road as he continued: “It was difficult before Christmas losing the last two, but since we’ve come back in the New Year we’ve really focussed and worked really hard.

“We went to Hull in what was a scrappy game at the end but we came out on top, and then we’ve done the same again against Stortford. It’s great.”

Saturday’s victory was the first back at Old Bath Road of 2023, and with the crowd getting behind the players, Dan concluded: “It was great to see so many people here and especially coming in as we were warming up. It got us going and they helped us through in the second half as well.”