Stour shape up

League leaders Caldy were obliged to work hard for their victory in front of hordes of their junior members who had played curtain-raiser fixtures against their Stour counterparts.

Nick Murphy’s return from suspension and Mark George’s absence through injury were the only significant change in a largely settled pack lineup. It was a different story in the threequarters though where Chris Scott made his first start in the inside-centre berth, partnering Nathan Tilsley to his outside and Rod Petty to his inside.

The start was hardly auspicious, Caldy centre Jack Lavin carving a huge hole in the Stour defences before a fluffed short-range lineout gifted a try to no.8 Josiah Dickinson. Stour’s defences shipped a couple of penalties in the next phases but Caldy were unable to execute a catch & drive and then Lavin miscued his kick at goal. With what limited early possession Stour enjoyed they struggled to make inroads into the visitors’ defences and were obliged to kick it away. Another penalty shipped in their 22 drew a lecture for captain Ciaran Moore and a kick to the corner by Caldy who sustained the pressure through a set of phases to work centre Forbes Edwards over for a try. 17min 0-12.

It was looking ominously like the previous weeks’ horror shows but Stour started to work some phases, scrum half Joe Heatley slipping through a gap to move play into the Caldy 22 but a pass went astray and the visitors cleared. Murphy turned over a lineout throw though, winger Dan Rundle’s chase of Heatley’s pinpoint kick to the corner forced an attacking lineout from which Stour worked over flanker Billy Harding. 27min 7-12. A quick tap penalty by Heatley sparked another Stour attack that drew a penalty for hands in the ruck that White comfortably converted. 31min 10-12.

Turnovers thwarted Caldy’s next forays into Stour territory and the half drew to a close with play opening up after White was unable to land a further penalty from wide out. Half time 10-12.

Stour kicked off with the advantage of a stiffening southerly breeze that White used to land a long-range penalty kick to take the lead. He repeated the trick shortly after following a late tackle. 50min 16-12. Caldy hit back though with a nicely worked try by replacement Nathan Rushton and then further extended their lead when Dickinson bagged his 2nd try after spotting a gap in the Stour defences. 63min 16-26.

A side-entry offence in the shadow of their posts saw Stour fall further behind to a Lavin penalty, but they rallied and kept running at the visitors, Rundle just denied in the corner by a last-gasp tackle. Play ebbed & flowed, Stour opting to kick a penalty to the corner chasing a bonus point and seeing Caldy lock Tom Sanders yellow carded for a cynical goal-line infringement. The visitors repelled a wave of Stour drives but finally shipped a try when the ball was moved wide by a lovely Heatley miss-pass that found Rundle with just enough space to beat the cover and score in the corner. White’s well-struck conversion secured the bonus point.

This Saturday Stour enjoy a week’s break before a long trip to Preston Grasshoppers on Mar 25th, ko 2.15pm. Their next home fixture will be against the Yorkshiremen of Otley on April 1st. Stourbridge Lions face 3rd place Camp Hill on Mar 25th in the first of four crunch end-of-season fixtures as they look to hold their 4-point lead at the top of Midlands 2 West (N), both ko’s 3pm.