Gary Dipple helped himself to 3 tries while Drew Harper bagged a brace, the visitors must have feared the worst when they turned round 36-5 down but Stour were again guilty of taking their foot off the gas in the 3rd quarter and it was no less than the visitors deserved when they scored a consolation bonus point try at the death. But Stour take a much needed bonus point victory and confidence booster as the squad is bolstered by new arrivals and easing injury woes.

With Stef Cooksammy unavailable Gary Dipple covered the left wing, slotting in alongside centre Ben Barkley who made a welcome return 10 weeks after breaking his jaw. Fred Brookes made his first start at hooker, while on the bench were 2 debutants in former Stourbridge Lions fly half Tom Mitchell and England u19 tighthead Jack Spencer, on loan from Gloucester RFC and son of former 1st XV coach Paul (aka ‘Spanner’).

Stour kicked off defending the South end, with little wind the only advantage to be had was the low sun that occasionally shone into the eyes of the Hull back 3, the surface soft after heavy midweek rain. Stour stormed out of the starting blocks, running the ball at pace to test the visitors’ defences. With less than a minute on the Doc Dyson game clock the ball reached captain Nigel Mukarati who barged his way over wide left. Outside half Caolan Ryan’s conversion glanced off the left upright but it was to be his only miss of the afternoon as he slotted the next 8 shots at goal. 1min 5-0.

Hull’s goalkicker Greg Lound got an early opportunity to reduce the lead when a Stour defender went off his feet at the tackle, but his kick went wide. Stour old boy Tomasi Tanumi attempted to run the deep dropout back at the hosts but excellent work by Barkley & Eji Uzoigwe held him up for a maul to form & Stour got the scrum feed as it went to floor. As the pressure came on Hull pulled the scrum drive round and their front row broke away, giving referee Luke Haskins the easiest penalty call of the day. Brooke’s confident throw found jumper Ciaran Moore but Stour couldn’t drive the maul to the line so scrum half Jacob Nash moved play left. 2nd phase ball came to Ryan who spotted the defenders rushing up, his cut-out pass to Tom Jarvis creating an overlap for Dipple to cross in the corner. 8min 12-0.

A Hull pass went loose near halfway, Stef Shillingford hacked it forwards and regathered, the visitors got enough numbers back to hold out some short drives but their wide defences were all at sea and a couple of well-worked cut out passes put Harper clear in the same corner. Breathless, 15min 19-0.

Great breakdown work by the tireless Moore turned over a Hull attack that had reached the Stour half, the ball was worked to Bressington who made big inroads down the right before it was worked to Harper who took a return scoring pass after Barkley’s charge had drawn 2 defenders. 22min, 26-0 & bonus point secured.

Spencer came on for Mark George but immediately blotted his copybook by conceding a penalty for hands in the ruck. With their lineout functioning well Hull kicked to the corner and went for a catch & drive, replacement lock Joe Stafford sneaking unnoticed under the narrow side defences. 26min 26-5.

A loose pass sparked a Hull counterattack but excellent work defensive by Dipple and the covering Brookes resulted in a penalty for holding on in the tackle. The ball was worked wide off the lineout but a promising attack broke down when Bressington pulled up lame chasing his chip ahead to be replaced by Mitchell. But Hull’s clearance kick from the lineout failed to find touch, Jarvis countered down the middle, Dipple bounced one defender and ran around another to score under the posts. 37min 33-5.

A Hull chip ahead was neatly caught by Ryan who evaded the pursuit and broke clear just outside the Stour 22. The cover got to him but he worked Ben Barkley clear in the next phase. The cover brought him down just inside the Hull 22 but at the expense of a penalty for side entry, Ryan slotted a straightforward penalty kick. Halftime. 36-5.

Frequent turnovers at the breakdown prevented either side from sustaining possession early in the 2nd half, though Ryan bagged another penalty conceded for a side entry. 47min 39-5. A sustained period of Hull possession had advanced into the Stour 22 but more fine work by Brookes forced a penalty for hanging on in the tackle. But Hull worked their way back, kicked a penalty award to the corner and again managed to execute their catch & drive for prop Adam Macklin to score. 54min 39-10.

With the pace not letting up both sides had deployed all 20 squad players by now as bodies tired, the turnovers continuing to flow and both sides looking to counterattack. Hull kicked a penalty into Stour’s 22 and set siege to the line, last ditch tackles held them out though including one fine effort from skipper Mukarati. But Stour couldn’t retain possession and a penalty allowed Hull back to the corner. Stour turned over the lineout throw though, Shillingford was worked through a gap and broke to the Hull 22 where he linked with Chris Depper. The defences held them initially but Stour patiently executed the phases and eventually Tu’ipolotu’s pass found Dipple in space wide left to score his hat-trick try. 72min 46-10.

A careless offside at a clearance kick gifted Hull another kick to the corner and they got their driving maul going again, this time utility back Jamie Clark the man credited with the score at the base. 74min 46-15.

A clumsy but innocuous late challenge on Jarvis drew a sensible penalty-only call from Mr Haskins, Ryan booted it to the Hull 22 where Stour again worked the phases, drawing a further penalty award for offside. Ryan tapped and ran, Mark George looked to have grounded the ball on the tryline but any doubt about the grounding was dispelled with Moore’s follow-up drive over the line. 79min 53-15.

With just seconds left on the clock Hull restarted and were gifted a soft turnover as the ball was lost in contact. The defences held but having executed a tackle Ryan found himself unsubtly shoved back into the wrong side of the breakdown by Clark, a yellow card compounding the injustice. Hull tapped and ran, loosehead Tom Price winning them a deserved bonus point with a short range drive and Lound finally hit the target with his 5th attempt at goal. Full time 53-22.