Sunshine greeted the Stourbridge bus to The Woodlands on the day that Fylde were celebrating their centenary with a large gathering for lunch. With five players on the pitch in the top try scoring positions in National 2 North it boded well for some fine running rugby.

No Rodders or Nick Murphy so the pack was rearranged with Jess Smith and Sam Montieri starting. Sam Wilson came into the replacements.

I think Fylde were still waking up when Stourbridge hit them with two early Dan Rundle tries, the first following a good break by George Morgan down the left hand wing and the second with a cross field run. Both converted by Chris Scott, to make the score 0-14 with 12 minutes played.

Unfortunately, that is as good as it got for Stour and the clouds started gathering. Following a Fylde penalty the monumental Number 8 Dave Fairbrother scored a try under the posts on 15 mins, converted by a reliable Greg Smith, score 7-14. Fairbrother then started orchestrating the match. Some good early clearance kicking started going wrong for Stour and defensive frailties were exposed. When Mark George was shown yellow on 29 mins it provided the impetus and opportunity for tries from Smith, Wilkinson and Grimes with Smith converting 2 out of 3. Sam Montieri temporarily made way for Steph Thorpe to come into the front row. Stour were in charge in the scrum but struggling elsewhere. The score was 26-14 at half time.

The second half started with Stour back up to full strength. But Chad Thorne picked up an injury and Steph Thorpe came on. Shortly after Jack Lea and Chris Scott were replaced by Mike Worthington and Sam Wilson. Stour were enjoying good possession without the final penetration needed to break the strong defence. Afe Haisila made a good break and kicked ahead only for Reece Beddows to be thwarted on the line. Following a good interchange in the Fylde half another kick ahead gave an opportunity for Sam Montieri to run at the defence but again was thwarted, winning a Stour line out. But again the attack was held at bay. Another opportunity saw Reece Beddows forced into touch. However all this good work was undone when the impressive hooker Ben Gregory scored for Fylde, converted by Smith. Score 33-14 on 65 mins.

Straight down the other end for Stour to mount an attack leading to a quickly taken tap penalty with ball being moved wide on the right wing for Reece Beddows to score a deserved try. Unfortunately the conversion slipped past the left hand upright. Score 33-19. But then Fylde scored a penalty and followed up with a final try for Gregory with a missed conversion, making the final score Fylde 41-19 Stourbridge.

A hard day at the office against a side well organized in defence and very quick to move the ball in attack. The only highlight being the fact that Dan Rundle now has 8 tries for the season and heads the try scoring leader board in Nat 2 North.

Fylde were able to enjoy their 100th anniversary celebrations whilst Stour faced the long trip home.

Pics & Match Report by Paul Davidson