1st XV 18 - 15 Southend

Stourbridge held on to a slender 3 point lead to secure victory in a hard fought encounter against Southend at a cold and windswept Stourton Park. A sixty second minute penalty, slotted over by fullback Ally Bressington, proved to be the difference between the teams, Stourbridge emerging with an 18-15 result. This was not the best of spectacles, the conditions were always going to hamper flowing rugby, but the second half did produce a very tense and competitive contest.

The home team rarely had the ball in the opening encounters, the visitors quickly opening their account with a first minute penalty, followed by a tenth minute try when captain Andrew Mclintock barged over. The home supporters on the stand side were fully expecting the move to be called back for a knock-on, but the officials thought otherwise and Stour were 10-0 down. Southend dominated first half possession with Stourbridge struggling to clear their lines against the swirling wind, each high clearance being blown back towards their own territory. The visitor's front row was also causing the home side some concern. However, Stourbridge kept them at bay with some excellent defending, typified by an excellent try saving tackle from hooker Ben Gerry. When Stourbridge did have the ball they were making an uncharacteristically high number of handling errors, with at least a couple of promising opportunities being spurned. In the last 15 minutes of the half Stourbridge finally began to exert some influence on the game. A prolonged period of possession resulted in their only points of the half when, 3 minutes before the break, Ally Bressington slotted over a penalty to reduce the half time deficit to 10-3.

The home side, now with the wind in their backs, came flying out of the blocks at the restart, the second half was just 30 seconds old when they scored their first try. Scrum half Tom Richardson picked up a loose ball just inside the Southend half, he was half way towards the try line before anyone seemed to realise what was happening, he duly raced on to complete his sprint down the left wing to the try line. Ally Bressington failed to convert a difficult kick from wide out in the swirling wind. Ten minutes later Stourbridge took the lead when a terrific burst by winger Tom Hughes cut through the Southend defence before releasing Scott Morris to go over. This time Bressington converted and for the first time in the game Stourbridge had the lead, at 15-10. Stourbridge were now in the ascendency and an expectant crowd were looking forward to the likelihood of further tries. However, it was not to be, Southend launched a furious attack of their own that penetrated deep into their hosts territory. This time the Stour defence had no answer to the pressure, successive moves eventually leading to a try for scrum half Rhys Powell. The try went unconverted but the Stour lead had lasted just 4 minutes and the scores were now locked at 15 all.

During the second half the Stour front row began to get the measure of their opponents and it was one such successful scrum that led to the decisive score, a Bressington penalty in the 62nd minute. It was 22 metres out and right in front of the posts and as expected of the league's highest scorer, he made no mistake.

After the penalty the game became a tense affair with neither team able to add to their points tally. The Stour scrum again distinguished themselves when a superb effort in the 79th minute resulted in a scrum against the head to give them possession. This proved vital as it enabled Stourbridge to retain the ball through a nervous and nail biting five minutes of injury time, holding on to their slender victory. No one player stood out as man of the match, this was about finding a gritty team performance, in a tight match, in difficult conditions, when you are not at your best, I think they call it "winning ugly".

Teams:
Stourbridge:
Bressington, Grove, Billig, Morris, Tom Hughes, Higgins, Richardson, Sturdy, Gerry, Gilding (George) Ben Hughes, Griffiths, Knight, Cooper (Parr) White.
Southend:
Hoult (Green) Lewis, Sloan, Stanley, Billings, Jonston, Powell (Holloway) North, Pay (Ferrier) Irvive, Mclintock, Waring, Braidwood, Gill (Johnson) Cooners.

Scorers:
Stourbridge: - Tries : Richardson, Morris. Con : Bressington 1. Pen: Bressington 2
Southend : - Tries : Mclintock, Powell. Con : Hoult 1. Pen : Hoult 1.