In a side showing several changes from the Leicester Lions reversal Chad Thorne returned at tighthead with Liam Munro starting at openside flanker & Connor Nicholls at no.8. Chris Easton returned at scrum half with Ash Elvers on the wing. Flanker Joe Carpenter got his first start of the season from the bench. With the crowd swelled by 120 attending the annual ex-players lunch, the game kicked off in dry, windless conditions perfect for goalkicking and running rugby.

Stour kicked an early penalty award to the corner but missed touch and found themselves back in their 22 as Harrogate looked to run the ball at them. A stalled maul saw them cough up scrum feed and a few phases later Harrogate flanker Jon Coser found a hole in the defences for the opening try. 6min 0-7.

Harrogate pressed again from the restart, a chip into Stour’s 22 defused by Elvers but at the expense of a 5m scrum. A rash of penalty awards against Stour culminated in a yellow card for hooker Jack Lea, Harrogate opting to scrum at every opportunity but were eventually penalised for pulling one down and Stour gratefully cleared. They rapidly turned over possession again at the maul though and had to weather another set of Harrogate attacks. It was into the 2nd quarter before Stour were finally able to hang on to the ball long enough to run at the visitors, but a sequence of errors prevented the 14 men applying any sustained pressure and they again found themselves defending deep in their 22. The loss of Chad Thorne saw replacement Stef Thorp having to fill in at tighthead, and the game drifted with neither side able to sustain any momentum in attack. A break by centre James Otutaha finally saw Stour carry the ball into Harrogate’s 22 but another handling error killed the move. The half ended with a Stour defender straying offside but Harrogate fullback Charles Morgan’s kick at goal flew wide. Halftime 0-7.

There was a determined air to Stour at the restart, they regathered possession, pressed and were rewarded with a penalty for a tackle infringement. Though 40m out outside half Luke White coolly slotted it through the posts. 44min 3-7. A Harrogate attack reached the Stour 22 but they coughed up possession with a handling error and Elvers speculative kick downfield was chased by centre Joe Heatley who secured an attacking 5m scrum. He was unable to win the race to a White chip over the top though and the visitors hoofed a 22 dropout downfield. Stour countered, Easton slipped through a gap in the fringe defences and broke wide where he found replacement Billy Harding in support to draw the cover and feed Elvers a scoring pass. 54min 8-7.

White’s conversion attempt flew right but he made amends shortly after with a monster 44m effort when the visitors were penalised for holding on in the tackle. 57min 11-7. The game started to open up and the sides exchanged turnovers before a tackle offence gave Morgan an unsuccessful penalty attempt from 35m out. Harrogate came again but couldn’t work holes in the Stour defence and Harding picked off a loose pass for White to hoof a huge touchkick deep into the visitors’ 22. Harrogate’s clearance attempts missed touch and Stour ran back at them, flanker Nigel Mukarati blasting through the defensive line near halfway, the ball worked down the short side to Otutaha who put winger Joe Bridger clear for a run behind the posts. 69min 18-7.

A clear break by Heatley went unrewarded when Stour were penalised for holding on in the tackle, Harrogate came back, kicked a penalty to the corner and launched a set of short range drives, Stour’s defences looked to have held them out when a maul got held up, but referee Chris Bennett spotted an offence off the ball as Mukarati broke from the base of the scrum and Harding found himself cooling his heels in the sinbin for the rest of the game. Back to the corner went Harrogate before launching a threequarter attack that saw winger Oli Rosillo score in the corner. 78min 18-12. With the clock running down Harrogate launched a desperate set of last-ditch attacks looking for a winning try, Stour started to leak penalties and yardage alarmingly but eventually breathed a sigh of relief when the ball was knocked on deep in their 22. Full time 18-12.

Next week Stour make the trip up the M6 to take on Sale at their historic Heywood Road ground, they will be looking to avenge a double inflicted on them last season. Stourbridge Lions travel to Coventry to take on Barkers Butts in the RFU Intermediate cup.