But a stuttering performance in poor conditions secured neither a try bonus point nor plaudits from their travelling supporters. A streetwise Harrogate won the toss and used their sloping pitch to full advantage, adapting better to both the damp weather and referee. Stourbridge’s plan A required quick recycled ball, but this failed to materialise as the hosts defended tenaciously and flooded the post-tackle area, Stour had instead to fall back on dominance up front to set up attacking platforms that delivered 2 tries from short-range scrums.

Harrogate won the toss & elected to play uphill first half. Unable to fashion line-breaks Stour kicked most of their early possession long and successfully turned over the hosts’ counterattacks in the tackle. A Sione Tu’ipolotu charge from the base produced a penalty as a defender stuck his hands in a ruck enabling debutant fly half Gareth Bown to slot a penalty from just over 25m in front of the posts. 8min 0-3.

Momentum was hard to come by, both sides incurring Mr Dickens’ displeasure in the tackle area for a variety of offences in both attack and defence. Eji Uzoigwe produced a fine turnover to halt one Harrogate attack but the penalties & some handling errors conspired to keep play locked mostly in the middle of the park as Stour started to look to play ball in hand. A big drive by fellow-debutant loosehead Steve Blackburn recovered possession at one scrum, but Stour’s running lines were often too lateral to make much impact on the hosts well-structured drift defence and they had to play phase after phase to advance slowly down the slope. Finally they worked some space for Stef Cooksammy on the right wing, though brought down just short the defenders strayed offside at the ruck and captain Nigel Mukarati opted to take a 5m attacking scrum from which Chris Depper crashed over at the base as the hosts were unceremoniously shunted backwards. Bown slotted a straightforward conversion, 20min 0-10.

Unable to run out of their 22 Stour kicked for touch enabling the hosts to run back at them. A neat linebreak by fly half Callum Irvine was only halted by a last-ditch Cooksammy tackle, but a defender had strayed offside in the lead-up giving Irvine a straightforward penalty kick at goal. 25min 3-10. Uzoigwe pounced on loose ball, feeding Cooksammy who fashioned a linebreak but lacked support, the defences regrouped as the ball was recycled and a speculative chip over the top blew the platform as a grateful defender caught it in his 22 and called a mark. It was hoofed downfield where Tom Jarvis’s uncharacteristically shanked return kick conceded possession and 50m of hard-won territory. Stour recovered it and worked it back to halfway but a further side-entry indiscretion at the tackle gifted a penalty that Irvine gratefully punted into touch deep in the Stour 22. The attacked was turned over but Stour’s counter was halted when Bown hung on to the ball in the tackle and Mr Dickens added 10m after taking a dislike to Stour’s failure to retreat immediately. This brought it into Irvine’s kicking range and he duly landed the kick at goal. 35min 6-10, Stour’s poor discipline playing right into the hands of opponents looking to negate their 1st half slope advantage.

Stour drove a late attack into the hosts’ 22 but a poorly executed chip chase saw the ball hoofed all the way back to their posts, Bown left with little option but a touchfinder. Mark George recovered loose ball at the lineout though and another tackle area indiscretion by Harrogate drew a warning from Mr Dickens and a penalty that was kicked to touch for a final 1st half assault on the hosts’ line. With time up the scrum option was taken for a penalty in the hosts’ 22, Stour couldn’t get a drive going but saw a Harrogate forward despatched to the sin bin for a further tackle-area offence. It was tapped & run, a sequence of drives saw Bown isolated when tackled just short of the line and the opportunity was gone as the ball was turned over & kicked dead. Half-time 6-10.

Robbie Hurrell & Drew Harper were introduced at half time to give the pack fresh impetus, but Harrogate were first to press a 2nd half attack when Irvine’s attempt to recover his chip over the advancing defensive line was just foiled by the attention of Jarvis. A huge clearance kick from the 22 by Tu’ipolotu advanced play upfield, Hughes disrupting the hosts’ lineout to generate a turnover for Hurrell to make distance before being tackled into touch. Hughes again stole the hosts’ lineout ball and a set of drives reached the hosts 22 before Jarvis was held up in the tackle with an attacking scrum awarded. The depleted home pack were again shunted backwards, George giving his opponent a torrid time. They were fortunate not to concede a penalty try for a first offence but found Mr Dickens not so lenient on the 2nd occasion as he ran under the posts to award a penalty try. Bown slotted the conversion, 50min 6-17.

With the restart overcooked Stour again got a good head of steam in the scrum allowing Bown to kick for position. The hosts rather unsubtly took out Hurrell in the air, conceding an eminently kickable penalty that was punted to the corner as Stour went in pursuit of a further try, but Dale Garner received man and ball simultaneously and was forced into touch. Hearn & Cooksammy linked on the counter when the clearance kick failed to find touch, but Irvine managed to stay on his feet at the tackle and produced a turnover and cleared.
Another turnover saw a Stour attack stall in the hosts’ midfield, with the defence out of position Harrogate moved it quickly right for Irvine to make some big distance before putting a grubber kick deep into the Stour 22. Jarvis gathered it but the hosts got enough bodies to the ruck to drive the defenders off and sub Noel Minkin was just able to evade Cooksammy’s tackle to score in the corner. It went unconverted but with lead of less than 2 scores the alarm bells were ringing for Stour, securing the 4 points suddenly becoming more of an issue than pursuing the 5th. 68min 11-17.

Stour’s scrum won a further penalty which was kicked for the corner but the attempted catch & drive was repelled, player/coach Jon Higgins on at outside half fired a long punt into the in-goal that would have produced a try for Cooksammy had he managed to secure the ball in the catch. An uncharacteristic spillage at a Stour lineout was hoofed downfield by the hosts who were now scenting blood, Tu’ipolotu having to cover back to scramble a clearance kick that the hosts ran straight back with a quick throw-in. A last-ditch tackle inches short of the line by replacement hooker Jack Lea gave the defences just enough time to regroup to hold out the next attack, the defenders finally able to draw breath when a pass failed to go to hand.

With Mark George’s opponent simply bailing out of the scrummage the officials inexplicably allowed play to go on, Higgins deep clearance kick failing to find touch though and it was run back by the hosts, a penalty conceded for a high tackle also run quickly as the defences scrambled to get into position. A solid Drew Harper tackle held them up but he was penalised for playing the ball on the floor and the stage was set for a dramatic finale as Harrogate kicked for touch in the visitors’ 22. They couldn’t penetrate the defences though and eventually a big tackle by Tu’ipolotu generated a turnover that was booted clear. The hosts maintained the tempo with another quick throw but the kick chasers scragged the ball carrier and flooded the tackle area to win a penalty. Higgins opted to kick at goal to secure a 2-score lead but the kick drifted wide, it was hoofed downfield to the covering Harper who drove straight back into the traffic near halfway. An unplayable call produced a scrum at which George again dismantled his opponent, advantage failed to materialise and Higgins’ 2nd shot at goal flew wide but the clock had hit 80min and the final whistle blew.