Lions in the Final!

Lions in the final after thrilling and bruising local derby win against Kidderminster

Stourbridge Lions reached the final of the RFU Intermediate Cup (Midlands) after a hard fought victory over local rivals Kidderminster. The Lions handed Kidderminster a dream start by knocking on from the kick off, losing the scrum, followed by poor tackling allowed Kidderminster winger Arthur Morgan to score with less than 2 minutes on the clock. A missed conversion gave the visitors an early 0-5 lead.

Within a few minutes the Lions equalised with a textbook short lineout to hooker Scott Langdon who caught the Kidderminster defenders wrong footed and crossed the whitewash to equal the score at 5-5. Amazingly, Langdon was on hand to score again on the 15-minute mark when he pounced on a loose ball over the try line following a hashed Kidderminster lineout. Centre Sam Wilson converted to put the Lions in front 12-5.

Stourbridge then began to give too many penalties away and were penalised in front of their own posts, leaving Kiddy fly half Freddie Morgan with an easy three points making the score 12-8. Both sides then swapped penalties with Sam Wilson again converting to make the score 15-11. A fine piece of back play just before half time saw winger George Tildsley race down the wing, draw his man and then off load for scrum half Ben Tibbetts to score under the posts, again converted by Sam Wilson

Half Time 22 -11

The referee had grown tired of the Stourbridge infringements and waved a yellow card at Scott Langdon in the 1st minute of the second half. Kidderminster used the numerical advantage and following a lineout trundled the ball over the line via number 8 Layton Wilkinson for a try, again converted by fly half Freddie Morgan. 22-18 and game on! Kidderminster soon had a great opportunity to take the lead when their pacey centre George Morgan skipped through a couple of tackles and with a try imminent was stopped by the Lions last line of defence George Tildsley

A particularly vital intervention as just a few minutes later young Ben Tibbets pounced on a loose ball for an unconverted try 27 – 18 to the Lions when we could so easily have been behind, such is the dividing line between success and failure.

Unfortunately with 10 minutes left on the clock, two try hooker Scott Langdon found himself on the wrong side of the ball and several sets of Kidderminster studs. The referee spotted the “afters” which earned him a red card and an early bath. From the penalty Kidderminster found touch five metres out, their lineout worked well and number 8 Wilkinson again crashed over to make it 27-23 and setting up a frantic last period.

Kidderminster with their man advantage were now in the ascendancy, setting up several phases of forwards play to get the ball over the try line. However, the referee much to the relief of the Stourbridge players and supporters spotted a double movement and the opportunity was lost.

The Lions defended robustly during this period yet still managed to seal victory with a late foray into the Kiddy 22 and a crossfield kick was lofted high into the corner, winger George Tildsley out-jumped his opposite number to score. Game over.

The Lions will now meet the winner of the other semi-final Wolverhampton Vs Barkers Butts on Saturday 26th March (Easter Saturday). The home team will be decided by the draw which takes place on Monday 7th March.

The Midlands winner then goes forward to compete in the National Intermediate semi final against the Northern winners for a final place at Twickenham in May.