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On the way to this match, many Stour supporters must have been muttering FFS win! OMG, their wishes came true! Fylde Failed Stourbridge won. What a GR8 game! This was a ‘must win’ game for both teams if they were to stand any (remote) chance of being in the top two of this tough league but it was home advantage and a season’s best performance that saw the home team 1st past the post on Grand National day.

The first meeting back on 4th December was a close-run thing at 15-10 with just 4 tries scored (3-1) but from the first whistle, it was Fylde who flew out of the starting gate making it clear that this was going to be one heck of a race. The first milestone of the day saw Joe Heatley lead out the team on his 150th appearance, whilst there was a debut planned for Pietro Turrisi who is expected to do great thinks for his home country of Italy. Back row star, Ciaran Moore made a start in the centre and veteran Rhys Pritchard stood in for our own equus amici - Mark (Hippophile) Harrison, at Full Back.

Stour kicked off the match, playing against a stiff breeze and occasional rain. It took just 3 minutes before Tom Forster was on the end of a tap penalty taken by the experienced and troublesome No 8, David Fairbrother. Fly Half Greg Smith slotted over the first of his 4 conversions, missing only one, all afternoon. Almost immediately, Stour’s first yellow card was dished out to Ciaran Moore after referee Daniel Woods considered him to have made a dangerous tackle. A few minutes later it was Joe Heatley’s turn to get on the wrong side of the ref and, despite some spirited defending, the visitors took full advantage of the space created by 2 missing opponents. The penalty lineout ball was secured and quick hands sent the ball to the nippy scrum half, Matt Sturgess who went over untouched for a converted Try giving his side a 14 point lead.

The restart gave possession back to Fylde who almost scored again but desperate defending and tremendous work by Dan Rundle hauled the attacker down, in the right corner with millimetres to spare! Unperturbed, the visitors attacked again with a slick move initiated by No 8 Fairbrother. However, the final play was knocked on and Stour were able to consolidate through their superior scrummaging set piece. Indeed, the gained three scrum penalties in a row, the last of which saw Fairbrother get his marching orders and 10 minutes in the bin.

With confidence growing and back to full strength, it was Stourbridge who took advantage of the numbers, scoring 14 points in the next 10 minutes with two tries by Rhys Pritchard and Michael Heaney. The first of these followed a steady build up with the ball moved left and right, several times. It eventually found Pritchard’s safe hands and clever running line to score out right. Heaney converted from the touch line. Shortly after the Fylde restart, breaks by Moore and Heatley gave Stour territorial advantage but Fylde’s defence held strong and they even tried a 50-22 touch kick that was a tight call going in favour of the hosts. On 30 minutes, Fylde props, Kyle Clay and Matt Ashcroft were replaced, presumably as a result of Stour’s scrum dominance but Stourbridge won the next set piece, scoring their second try when Ciaran Moore broke clear feeding to Michael Heaney in support. The conversion attempt was sent wide, but Stourbridge players were now gaining in confidence both whilst in attack and defence.

The crowd had to wait some 10 minutes for the next score after both sides had some promising passages of play. However, Fylde were penalised for ‘crossing’ and conceded a further penalty giving Stourbridge a scrum choice some 5 metres near the front of the posts. The ball was sent through several pairs of hands eventually reaching the right wing, Matt Moseley and a great line of running to dot down on the stroke of half time.

In the space of 15 minutes, Stour had been able to overcome a two-man deficit, 14 points and double figure penalty count to go in with a half time lead of 17-14. Freddie Morgan replaced Pritchard (who had taken a nasty knock in the previous session) and the youngster put his side on the front foot, helped by Heatley who hacked through, winning a lineout as the Fylde full back had to run the ball in to touch. Unfortunately, the hosts failed to secure the ball and soon regretted their errors as Fylde probed Stour’s half via two more penalties. This gave them a close quarters lineout which ended in No 11 Thomas Grimes scoring after just 5 minutes into the half.

The hosts hit back straight away with breaks by Alfie Bell alongside his new 2nd row partner Pietro Turrisi. On 48 minutes Stour secured a penalty lineout and referee Woods had no alternative but to award a Penalty Try (& Bonus point) as Fylde collapsed a perfectly good maul. This was followed by some bizarre moments as the restart went straight to a Stour penalty on the halfway line. Somebody must have said some strong words to the referee who then marched Fylde back 10 metres to where they had just come from!

Stour opted for the kick to touch and gathered the ball only to be pushed back some 10 metres. However, they managed to consolidate and regain the lost ground but at a cost of one warning from the referee to move the ball. The move came to a standstill, but Heaney suddenly appeared on the blindside and scampered over for his second try, Stour’s 5th, and a lead of 29-19. Two minutes later, Dan Rundle scored his 103rd Try for Stourbridge as Fylde’s restart was taken straight back via Turrisi, Moore and Morgan, finding the Stourbridge speedster out left. One Stour supporter made comments about this closing the game down for his side – a prediction he was reminded may not come forth. However, for 7 minutes it could have been reality thanks to some great work by Matt Perks and Pietro Turrisi, followed by Chad Thorne being held up over the line. However, the visitor’s drop out went deep and soon an attack was building. This bought about a yellow car to Morgan and tap penalty that saw Grimes crash over for a (Smith) converted try.

At this point, the Stour set-piece dominance began to wane, and they were unable to take advantage of some good territory and possession. This was followed by a Fylde penalty, putting themselves on the front foot and burly centre Scott Rawlings making space for himself through the middle for his team’s 5th try, their 14th point in 8 minutes and just a 1 point gap with 11 minutes remaining. OMG! FFS!

The visitors then upped a gear and put all of Stour’s defensive skills to the test. This included some magical work by No 7 Finlay Theobold-Thomas who had been industrious throughout the whole game. Helped by Heatley, holding up a tackled player, they manged to rip the ball clear and pop it out left. It was given to Louis Mifsud who sprinted clear and made a good 20 metres before being hauled down. However, play was called back for an incident by Fylde and Freddie Morgan was given the task of taking the penalty with about 35 metres out. His kick sailed over followed by rapturous cheers and applause by the thrilled Stour supporters and neutral spectators.

With a slender lead of 37 – 33 the hosts manage to repel further dangers for the remaining 7 minutes but it was nerve jangling up until the 79th minute when Stourbridge won their final scrum penalty and Heaney tapped/kicked for touch and the final whistle!

This victory kept Stour in 4th place on 103 points with feint hopes kept alive for a 2nd place. However, Hull, Rotherham and Sedgley Park still look to be favourites for the top slots meaning it is even more important to get supporters to our remaining fixtures! Next week we travel to Hull Ionians followed by Luctonians at Stourton Park, Sheffield Tigers (A) and Huddersfield, also away!

Hoping all our readers have a GR8 Easter break!