This game was always going to be a thriller with our old adversaries from Whitefield, Manchester in 3rd place and fielding a young but strong squad. Lacking the Riley brothers (one of whom was getting married) and two key players on international duty, spectators would not have guessed that a team with the majority of territory and possession could end up on the wrong side of a 64 point classic!

It was the hosts who were to SPark the game off with a Joe Heatley try on 48 seconds after Stourbridge kicked off the match heading into a strong wind. Sedge’s clearance kick found touch and the lineout possession allowed Scott to feed Rundle who, in turn, set free Haisila and Trinham and the final inside pass to Heatley for his 10th try of the season. It was then Tigers turn to turn on the pressure and they hit back five minutes later with a try of their own scored by the hooker, Maher. This followed a strong break by No 11 Jamie Harrison who gained all of 50 metres and which led to a penalty, lineout and catch and drive with Maher on the end of it. Shortly after, Stour returned the compliment when Tigers were penalised for a high tackle on Charlie Jeavons-Fellows. The resulting lineout secured some good possession and debutante No 9 Connor Adams half break caught the visitors by surprise. Man of the Match, Jack Lea then gathered the ball and crashed over, close enough to the posts for Chris Scott to add the extras.

This seemed to galvanise the visitors who then used their strong running players to batter away at the Stourbridge line and spend the next 15 minutes or so inside their opponents half. Stour were lucky not to concede an early Yellow Card, giving away a series of penalties before referee Richard Haughton finally lost patience and Charlie J-F was the unlucky one to take a team Yellow on 23 minutes. Quick thinking by Sedge saw loose head prop Nathan Rushton score out wide, to the left and danger man Stephen Collins landed the conversion. At 12-12 it was now very much game on.

This was a game where both sides looked dangerous with ball in hand and both forwards and backs posed some very stern questions of their opponents. The kick off return now gave some ball to Stourbridge who found themselves inside Sedge’s half for the first time in many minutes. Joe Heatley’s 20 m break then fed Haisila who, in turn gave the ball out wide to Josh Trinham. Still with about 30 metres to go, he out paced the defence and scampered around the last player to score under the posts, Scott converted and Stour regained the lead.

Almost from the kick off, Stour regained possession and Scott’s boot returned the ball, with interest. Instead of landing into touch, Sedgley Park’s defender gathered the ball only to be pounced upon by speedster Trinham who then dragged the hapless player into touch some 20 metres from his own try line. Stour won the lineout and the driving maul was sent on its way, via some diagonal movement and Nick Murphy scored his second try in two games. This gave Chris Scott a simple kick to make it 26 – 12 and securing a Bonus Point with 30 minutes gone and just 14 men on the pitch. The scoreboard remained untouched for the remainder of the half in spite of some intense pressure from the visitors. Stour’s defence was robust and some excellent tackles from Rundle, Heatley, Haisila and Trinham repelled numerous waves of attack.

Stour returned to the dressing room 14 points clear but lost the battle of statistics by about 30% - 70% territory and possession. By now, the strong and swirling wind seemed to drop a little and Stourbridge kicked off what turned out to be a thrilling second half. Indeed, it was Jamie Harrison who made the best break of the afternoon, eluding several tackle attempts, making over 50 metres of ground. However, Dan Rundle had tracked across from his opposite wing and hauled Harrison down just 5 metres from the try line! Stour’s clearance kick was charged down but because they had taken the ball back into the in goal area, Sedge were awarded a scrum on the 5 m line. The following passage of play was too much and Stour eventually conceded a try to Rushton’s second when he crashed over with just 44 minutes on the clock. Collins converted and the fight back had begun!

Fortunately for the hosts, they were next to score with an immediate gain line break by Haisila who ran a good 40 metres. The ball ended up with Charlie J-F and Sedge conceded a penalty for the tackler not rolling away. The inevitable Stour penalty lineout gave Jack Lea his second try from the back of a maul which Scott slotted over to make it 33 – 19 and plenty of clear water behind them. Sedgley Park had other ideas and amassed 12 points in the space of just 7 minutes when Callum McShane jinked around two defenders scoring in the right corner and superbly converted by Collins. Almost straight from the kick off, Jamie Harrison attacked an uncharacteristic Stour defence that were struggling to put players down. He eluded three defenders but was caught and bundled into touch by Haisila. However, momentum was very much with Sedgley Park and the barrage was rewarded by a try from centre Oliver Glasse. Collins kick went wide but all of a sudden the visitors were one score away from victory and 22 minutes left on the clock.

At this point, there are still two pages of notes waiting to be deciphered but I will not bore the reader with all of them! Suffice it to say that they include words such as “desperate defence…penalty to Sedge…penalty to Stour…” Perhaps the defining moment came when the visitors were awarded a penalty inside the “22” but rather than set up a driving maul, they opted to send the ball out wide. This time, Stour defence was flawless and Tigers were penalised for the tackled player “holding on”. It gave some much needed pressure relief and the clearance kick sent the ball out to the half way line. Stour’s lineout held firm and the worldly and weathered Rod Petty hoofed the ball away followed, a Picosecond later, by Referee Haughton’s final whistle.

This was another physical game and a good test for all concerned. However, it took its toll and kept club doctor Steve Mann busy with his needle and thread. Josh Trinham also took a nasty blow to his eye with 24 minutes left to play and took no further part.

With Tynedale losing their second game to visitors, Hinckley the chasing pack reshuffled positions but Stour are now 11 points clear and looking forward to travelling to Dore Moor next week to face 8th placed Sheffield Tigers.

Thanks to Andy Cook for the main picture and Ceri Davies as always for the album photos