Ladies and Ex Players witness an entertaining match and seventh win for Stourbridge

Stour were out to make it seven out of seven in front of a large home crowd made up mainly from “Ladies who lunch” and Ex Players on their annual trips down Memory Lane. Official attendance shows a crowd of 445 but there seemed to be more there given the crowded touchlines and vocal support.

As predicted, a match against Huddersfield was never going to be an easy fixture but it was the hosts who started well after the visitors kicked off proceedings and playing with a strong wind advantage. Stour dominated possession but were unable to capitalise and the first ten minute session was punctuated by a series of handling errors and penalties. The wind defeated Haisila’s 5th minute penalty attempt after referee Harry Walbaum lost patience with some offside encroachments. The visitors did have the occasional attacking opportunities and a notable break through the middle was thwarted when Man of the Match, Charlie Jeavons-Fellows closed in on a tackle and, with his trademark posture over man and ball, was rewarded with a penalty and some much needed relief of pressure. It wasn’t until the 13th minute that Stour made the scoreboard tick over and a great lineout steal inside Huddersfield’s 22 gave rise to a penalty. The front eight dominance made it an easy decision to opt for a scrum and Ben Tibbetts saw a gap where his opposite number had drifted wide anticipating a wide pass. The scrum half darted through the space and Haisila kicked the extras.

The following period continued to see Stourbridge dominate possession but the back division failed to capitalise on the amount of ball that forwards had given them. Furthermore, some weak tackling gave visiting left winger Brandon Conway an opportunity to make some 60 metres and once again CJ-F was on hand to assist Dan Rundle and slow the final phase down. However, momentum was with Huddersfield and the ensuing ruck saw blindside flanker Ben Morrill crash over and Joel Hinchcliffe slotted over the extras. The first quarter of the game had now passed by and, at 7 – 7 it was game on. However, the remainder of the half went scoreless in spite of both sides having opportunities, again nullified by poor handling and a mounting penalty count. Stour lost several lineout chances including conceding a free kick for a delayed throw in and scrum ball was also lost due to early pushing. However, the visitors faired no better and were marched 10 metres by referee Walbaum for some “back chat”. Whilst it fair to say that both sides wasted possession Stourbridge were missing two centres in the substantial form of Steve Leach and twice Man of the Match George Morgan. Huddersfield also failed to make use of wind advantage and gave away possession through some poorly placed kicks including one that went a good 70 metres but beyond the dead ball area. They were also to be seen kicking good ball away with 20 minutes left to play and yet 25 points down!

At half time, Huddersfield chose to remain on the pitch whilst Stour made their way back to the changing rooms and touchline whispers suggested that the DoR language and team talk was not for feint or feminine ears! Indeed, whatever was said behind those firmly closed doors must have had some impact.

Now playing with a strong wind on their backs, the hosts hit the ground running and on 42 minutes Haisila knocked over a penalty. This was the catalyst to a game changing period of twenty minutes when the previously disjointed three quarters now went up several gears leaving the visitors somewhat shell-shocked and their supporters in silence. It started after a massive clearance kick by Petty but the counter attack broke down and Huddersfield scrum ball was lost. Rundle and Heatley then combined to attack through the middle and out right where a grateful Alex Hearle, still with some work to do, dotted down in the corner. The next 10 minutes saw 50/50 possession and territory but the deadlock was broken by a loose Huddersfield pass that was seized upon by Joe Heatley. Again, he combined well with Dan Rundle and some silky running by Afeafe Haisila 60 m out gave Stour their 3rd try of the day and Afeafe an easy conversion.

Joe Heatley scored the Bonus Point try on 56 minutes and this was his eighth of the season. It came following aerial Ping-Pong between the two sides with Scott and Petty putting some huge kicks in and judging the wind conditions better than their hapless opposition in the first half. Petty then decided to run the ball back and a strong counter by Sam Pailor gave the ball to Heatley on the halfway line. His break could not be halted by any number of defenders and the referee could not keep pace. Heatley’s athletic touch down was only confirmed after consultation with the touch judge. The next score came 4 minutes later when Stour won lineout ball after Huddersfield had conceded a kickable penalty. The catch and drive was too much for a tiring side and Nigel Mukarati was unstoppable from 5 metres out. At 32 – 7 and 20 minutes to go the game was far from over but something seemed to click in both teams. Stour started to relax whilst Huddersfield were galvanised into some passages of play that saw strong running and slick interchanges between forwards and backs. Hinchcliffe scored on 78 minutes in an almost identical gap he left in the first half. Visiting No 8 Richard Piper picked up from the base of scrum, went blind and slipped an inside ball to the little scrum half who scampered over untouched. However, he missed a relatively simple conversion attempt. Huddersfield also had the final say with Conway being rewarded for his first half break that led to the first try. All this after several passages of play between the visiting forwards and backs eventually finding the speedy wingman in the corner.

All in all, this was an entertaining game that tested a disrupted home side. However, whatever problems that had occurred in the first half were well and truly resolved by the end of half time, as confirmed by the final score line. The large crowd certainly got their money’s worth and Stour can now look forward to visiting 7th placed Leicester Lions next Saturday. Coincidentally, our nearest rivals Tynedale are away to South Leicester who are in 6th place and there may well be some espionage afoot in the LE postcodes!