After several false starts and bin full of part completed ‘scrap’ paper I can now, hopefully, present a meaningful and informative report on Saturday’s game!

On the down side the game was preceded by a minute’s silence to remember our dear friend Dave Davies who died after a sudden and rapid loss against his battle against cancer. The gusty winds were almost strong enough to blow the wallet out of the hands of our DoR.

The brighter and best moments include the disappearance of hail; the arrival of blue skies and the odd fluffy cloud that complimented Stour’s home kit. Jack Lea leading out his side as Captain and marking his century of appearances and…erm…

In the away fixture it was Stour who scored first after just 3 minutes. This time it was Huddersfield who scored after 3 minutes thanks to some indecisive Stour play that missed kick off receipt followed closely by a knock on. Possession gave ‘Field’s full back an opportunity to attack, winning a penalty in the process. The ball was kicked into the far right corner and the lineout led to a strong maul with No 2 Francis Entressengle crashing over. Centre, Will Milner slotted a difficult conversion for a 0-7 lead and from there, the score remained unchanged for another 28 minutes.

Stour did spend a considerable amount of time inside the visitors’ half but ‘white line fever’, a series of knock on’s, conceded penalties, forward passes and not straight lineout ball were enough to leave them bereft of any points. Huddersfield also failed to take advantage of territory and possession and paid the price when Stour won a scrum just inside their own ’22. The ball was sent left where George Morgan made an incisive break. As he was tackled, he managed to slip the ball to Dan Rundle who, with the width of a tightrope between himself and the touchline, still had a bit of work to do. However, the speedster pinned back his ears, managed to squeeze past several defenders and sprinted the remaining 70 metres scoring under the posts. Sam Wilson added the extras.

Although Stourbridge managed to regain possession from the kick off, this was soon squandered when a speculative kick was sent straight to the full back. With a strong wind advantage, he sent it back to inside the hosts’ ’22 line and his teammates were able to secure a penalty from the lineout. The momentum was in ‘Field’s favour and a long looping pass was sent to left field and into the safe hands of No 15 Thomas Hodson who eluded a struggling defence. Milner hit his second decent kick of the day and referee Taylor blew for half time and a scoreline of 7-14.

With such a strong wind the half time chat amongst the onlookers revolved around the superior advantage that Stour would have and that a seven-point lead was never going to be enough for Huddersfield to defend. However, nobody had considered the two seemingly important factors that would prevail in the following forty minutes. Firstly, the home side seemed intent on repeating the quality of their first half performance. Secondly, the ‘performance’ (more half completed scribbles on scrap paper hit the bin) of the officiating team who seemed intent on being unhelpful to both sides.

Kicking off, with the wind, Stour were unable to hold back a determined Huddersfield counter which was only halted after a knock on inside host territory. A counter attack was rewarded on 47 minutes when the troublesome Huddersfield No 8 made yet another infringement but Stour failed to secure the resulting penalty lineout ball. A few minutes later, play was stopped after a Stour player had been punched in full view of the AR and stand spectators. However, no Red Card ensued and the referee simply awarded a penalty to Stourbridge on the half way line. Incredibly, the on field decision was to go for a three-point penalty attempt that fell well wide.

The restart saw ‘Field on the attack again including a quick tap penalty and Milner break that looked particularly dangerous. However, the attacks were repelled and thanks to try saving work by Josh Trinham the visitors went scoreless. A 58th minute Huddersfield break ended with a knock on but the fresh of Stour replacement Jack Bartlett saw the young front row storm through the opposition and manage a pop pass to the supporting runner in the form of Callum Morris. His break went the remainder of the pitch length courtesy of some elusive steps but was finally brought down just short of the white wash. However, Joe Heatley was in close pursuit and he managed to elude the final defender for a 59th minute Try, converted by replacement Fly Half, Chris Scott.

From the kick off Stour won a penalty and, playing advantage, a raking kick was sent down field. However, instead of allowing the game to continue, the referee blew up and recalled play inside Stour’s half. In the meantime, the ball had crossed into touch, less than 10 metres from the visitors’ Try line!!

Apart from a decent Jack Lea break and an outstanding 60-metre kick down field by Jack Bartlett, the remainder of the game was punctuated by the referee’s whistle and upheld arm in favour of the visitors. The penalty for a leading forearm by the otherwise vocal No 5 Nicholas Sharpe did ease the pressure a few minutes from the final whistle. However, this was scant Stour reward for tolerating continual and unheeded opposition illegalities.

In spite of ‘home advantage’ this was never going to be a foregone conclusion and note this is Huddersfield’s 4th draw in a season where they have 6 other games that have been won or lost by 6 points or less! With Hull beating Otley the result means that Stour drop to 7th position. They have the same points as Stour but move up by virtue of the number of wins.

Stourbridge are still not guaranteed safety in this rollercoaster of a league but it is looking like Caldy could take the title next week after beating hapless Scunthorpe by 103 – 0. Former England 7’s star, Nick Royle scored 4 tries but is still behind Dan Rundle who is ahead by 28-25.

Having recruited heavily, Hinckley are making a late charge for the play offs and remain undefeated since mid December when they lost to Chester by a single point!

We still have some way to go to ensure safety, particularly with three away fixtures in a row and matches against the likes of Chester, Caldy and Loughborough.

I am off to empty the waste paper bin otherwise…watch this space!!!!