The Hoppers have been in fantastic form in recent months and, before this Saturday's win, have beaten teams representing Kidderminster, Dudley Kingswinford, Bournville, Telford, Stourport and Walsall in this recent run scoring a total of almost 250 points.

This should help them to defend the Worcester & Hereford Merit Table that they were Champions of last season, adding more silverware to the Memorial Cup trophy that they won for the first time last November.

Saturday saw a strong Hoppers' squad available for the away game on Redditch's sloping pitch. Captain Mike Steven won the toss and elected to play uphill first half. Early Redditch pressure was soaked up by the Stourbridge pack, notably Gwaine Dunne holding up a potential early try for the opponents. The Hoppers' resolute tackling left Redditch unable to cross our line and the unerring kicking game of Alex Smith, Ryan Hadley and George Cattell managed to relieve the pressure and get us field position. From there ex-Hoppers' favourite Nathan Darby crossed the line in his first match for two years!

Following the early try, the Hoppers took control of the match and there were further tries from Metaxas, Smith, Craddock, Hadley, Wooldridge and a brace for top scoring winger Andi Parsons.

Redditch managed a deserved consolation try in the second half and played in the spirit that they always do. We always enjoy travelling to such a friendly and welcoming club and were happy to stay for drinks and chat afterwards.

Next week, we're digging out our Hawaiian shirts, as we've been invited to play Bromsgrove Vets at their First XV's last home game and promotion party.

Match report by Mike Steven