1st XV 38 - 5 Blaydon

Player of the Match - Sam Robinson

Stourbridge 38-5 Blaydon            By David Lawrence

attendance 593 

Stourbridge stormed to a six-try victory to continue their climb up the National One table.

And it was a stylish free-running display that swept Blaydon aside – well in the second half at least!

Supporters were given a little taste of the delights to follow as early as the fifth minute when on loan Coventry winger Simon Frewin powered down the left wing, leaving tacklers sprawled in his wake, only to put a toe into touch and deny Stour the early score.

It was a similar tale of woe late in the half when, faced with a three-man overlap, the ball was knocked on with the line within diving distance.

But the breakthrough did come before half-time – a glorious try that saw Frewin’s quick line-out ball gathered by Craig Richards just inside the Stourbridge half. Frewin then took the pass and stormed through the Blaydon midfield before unleashing Chris Tennuci on the right to scamper over and touch down between the posts. Jon Higgins put two early penalty misses behind him to add the extras.

John White’s half-time ear-bashing was still fresh in the mind as Stourbridge added a second try just five minutes after the restart, hooker Harry Collins showing some nifty handling to send Richards in at the corner.

The blue-booted Welsh wonder bagged his second try on the hour after another sweeping move that started with skipper Ben Hughes wrestling the ball from an opponent deep in his own half. Frewin collected the ball wide on the left and after another trademark tackle-breaking run, he offloaded to Richards who seems to get faster by the week.

Higgins failed with each of the conversions and the kicking duties were passed to Tom Richardson for the final quarter.
He duly obliged with his first kick on 70 minutes, coolly slotting over a conversion after Adam Sturdy had been driven over the line by the forwards.

Tennuci, Frewin and Richards all embarked on crowd-pleasing runs as the Blaydon challenge dissolved and Frewin was rewarded with his outstanding display with a try on 77 minutes that saw him slice through the centre to score beneath the posts.

Full-back Andy Baggott scored a consolation try for the visitors as the game went into the final stages but there was still time for Ben Gerry – who had spent half the game at flanker – to burst through for a sixth Stourbridge score.

Sadly every silver lining has a cloud and the loss of outside centre Adam Billig at half-time and back row powerhouse Duncan White before the break will concern Neil Mitchell ahead of the trip to Wharfedale on Saturday.

And he could also face a battle to keep Frewin especially as Coventry DoR Phil Maynard was on hand to witness the winger’s impressive display.

Stourbridge: Richards, Tennuci, Billig (Robinson 40), Barkley, Frewin, Higgins, Richardson; Sturdy (Baker 77), Collins (Rodley 50), Lawrence, Hughes, Homer (W Cooper 77), Gerry, R Cooper, White (Griffiths 32).
Blaydon: Baggott, Barber, Rock, Fitzpatrick, Dehaty (Dias 35), Windle, Thorne; Kalbraier (MacKenzie 70), Hall (Graham 48), Clarke, Pretorius, Jones, Wood (Wearmouth 50), Riddell, Smithson (Vinnicombe 58)

Match photos on this page and home page from Peter Thompson, more from Richie Laurent here

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