1st XV 95 - 5 Manchester
| Match date | Saturday October 31, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Match time | 15:00 |
| Match location | Home |
| Team | 1st XV |
| Opponent | Manchester |
Player of the Match - Ben Hughes
Stourbridge 95 Manchester 5 by Paul Smith
Manchester’s emphatic 27-7 triumph on the last occasion the clubs met, in March 2008, caused Moet to re-route the delivery destined for Stourton 100 miles north to Cheadle Hulme.
The core of the promotion winning Manchester side has stayed together since then. This cohesion yesterday enabled them to bring table-topping Esher’s march into next season’s Championship to a shuddering halt, courtesy of a one point win.
Unfortunately for one of England’s oldest rugby clubs, the talented side that Dave Baldwin built took their most recent celebratory drinks on the outskirts of Bury, where they now appear in the red and gold of Sedgley Park.
Meanwhile Grove Park is witnessing the rugby equivalent of a season long car crash. Based on yesterday’s evidence, Manchester’s ninth consecutive 90 point plus thrashing will not be their last. Presumably the 2008 shipment of Moet included a free box of poisoned chalices.
All sorts of Stourbridge club records were airbrushed from history in a totally one-sided encounter that amounted to little more than a semi-opposed training run for Neil Mitchell’s men.
On the hour mark, Stour’s previous biggest league victory, 74-0 against Lichfield in 1999, disappeared from the annals.
13 minutes later the champagne corks were popping in Upton on Severn, as their 86 point 1984 North Midlands Cup defeat was no longer the biggest win of Stour’s 134 year history.
By the final whistle, the fifteen tries had been shared between ten players – both also club records - while the arrival of the bonus point in only the 25th minute also had the club statistician Vernon Davies quivering expectantly.
In response Manchester managed a solitary, well crafted try from fly half Richard Hopkinson, shortly before half time. This was only their fifth score of the season, but nonetheless they tackled themselves to a standstill, took most of their own set piece ball to maintain both spirit and self-respect.
Their sympathetic full time round of applause was well deserved. Their current players and coaches are suffering for the sins of their fathers; they are a decent level seven side, who would push Stourbridge Lions hard, being asked to perform at level three.
The home side will reflect on a job well done, with five points safely in the bank, and the points difference boosted. But the performance was difficult to assess, since the gulf between the sides rendered playing patterns largely irrelevant.
Ben Hughes extended his unlikely lead at the top of the club’s try scoring chart with the first hat trick of his career. The captain’s mobility was highlighted by a superb 40 metre burst down the touchline late in the first half, though all three of his tries came from close range.
Jon Higgins added ten conversions to doubles from Craig Richards, Tom Richardson and debutant on loan Coventry winger Kurt Johnson, and singles from Rupert Cooper, James Rodley, Ben Gerry, Sam Robinson, Ben Barkley and Chris Tennuci.
The young former Longton winger’s score, only his second in Stour colours, was arguably the pick of the bunch; a scorching classic winger’s finish from 30 metres after a fine 50 metre Barkley break.
Johnson’s appetite for work and strong running caught the eye; like former Worcester and Stour legend Nick Baxter, he already has over 100 national league tries to his name, and will add some welcome experience to Mitchell’s talented but youthful back line.
The veteran Barbados international certainly enjoyed an easier 80 minutes than that endured by his predecessor in Stour’s number 14 shirt, Simon Frewin, during Coventry’s Friday night defeat against free-flowing Bristol.
Canadian international and former Leicester Tigers number 8 Seb Pearson also had a fine game, regularly crashing over the gain line, and linking intelligently. The gap left by Duncan White’s season-long injury absence does not now look quite as substantial.
Teams:
Stourbridge – Richards, Tennuci (Bache, 60), Robinson, Barkley, Johnson; Higgins, Richardson; Sturdy (Baker, 40), Gerry (Keylock, 68), Lawrence (Homer, 68); Homer (W.Cooper, 40), Hughes; Rodley (Harrop, 68), Cooper, Pearson.
Manchester – Taylor; McCabe, Rockey, Coskie, Doherty (Hall, 68); Hopkinson, Carlton; Prest (Stock, 51), Gould, Howles; Walker-Fitton (Lewis, 66), Farrington; Davis (Noar, 48), Hammond, Haidinger.
Referee – Paul Kimber
The Match in Pictures
