Under 14

Sunday 20th April 2008

Stourbridge u14 46, Kidderminster u14 0.

Stourbridge u14 52, Southport u14 0.

Same formula as last week, similar results with a very confident Stourbridge u14 team now playing at the top of their game at the end of a long season - what a pity we couldn't manage it earlier ! Two 30min duration games played in a triangular competition against old adversaries Kidderminster and touring side Southport on their way home from fixtures at Stratford-on-Avon the day before.

The feature of both games was the confidence Stourbridge's ball-winning forwards had in the ability of the threequarter line to use the ball to effect. Eliot must have thrown as many passes in an hour of rugby as he had all season up to now, such was the supply of quality ball that he was able to feed out to Will. Ross, Jack and Will all featured significantly on the scoresheet.

Match report to follow.

Next Week part 1 - Friday April 25th 2008

Guys in the Black Country district squad need to be at Moseley RFC's ground on Billesley Common for 6pm in preparation for a 7pm ko game against Greater Birmingham. The entrance to the Moseley ground is off Yardley Wood Road in Kings Heath, postcode B13 0PT. Simplest route in is via M42 j3 and up the A435 northbound.

Next Week part 2 - Sunday April 27th 2008

As of the evening of Tues Apr 22nd we have taken an AWAY fixture at Bromsgrove RFC.

Please either travel direct to meet there at 10.30am or make your own arrangements for lift share - I strongly recommend you avoid Stourton Park as a meet up because it will be heavily congested with the u13 tournament on. I can arrange lifts if needed - please text or call me.

Bromsgrove play at Finstall Park. From the A38 Southbound, go left at the traffic lights immediately south of the roundabout where the Redditch dual carriageway comes in. After about a half mile go left at the mini-roundabout by the train station, then another quarter of a mile, over a right-hand hairpin railway bridge and the club is on your right. B60 3DH.

Black Country Development Squad dates.

Fri Apr 25th, Black Country XV match v Greater Birmingham at Billesley Common (Moseley Rugby Club). Be there 6pm for a 7pm ko.

2008/9 Season provisional training and match dates & venues, I assume timings will be 1.30pm-3pm again :

September 28th (Stourton Park)

October 12th (Old Halesonians)

November 2nd (DK)

December 7th (Warley RFC)

January 11th (Wednesbury RFC)

February 1st (Stourton Park)

March 1st (Old Halesonians)

April 5th (DK)

Under 14's Fixtures Season 2007-2008

Stourbridge u14 52, Southport u14 0 (HT 24-0)

Stourbridge u14 51, Bredon 5

Team : 1. Gareth Shaw, 2. Tom Partridge, 3. Rhys Lockley, 4. Tom Lloyd-Roberts (sub. Ronnie), 5. Jim Lee, 6. Jordan Pope (sub. Max Park-Davies), 7. Ellis Williams, 8. Ryan Bate (capt.), 9. Eliot Hopkin, 10. Will Harris, 11. Bertie Morgan, 12. Jack Yates, 13. Ross Anthony, 14. Andrew Jeavons, 15. Dom (sub. Jake Eden).

Scorers : Will Harris (2T, 3C), Ross Anthony (3T), Ryan Bate (T), Jack Yates (T), Andrew Jeavons (T), Tom Lloyd-Roberts (T).

Next up Bredon, and no respite for the front row of Gareth, Tom and Rhys who this time got the upper hand over brave but diminutive opponents who were tired from their efforts against Hales. Jim came on at 2nd row, and on 3 occasions came desperately close to scoring as last-ditch defence held him out. Several moments stand out for me, the first being the pleasure of watching the ball travel the entire width of our backline, with Jack drawing the last defender to put Andrew into space - a well-worked move topped with a try for one of the most deadly finishers this agegroup has fielded in 8 seasons of competitive rugby. Welcome back ! On the other wing Bertie was also busy, in his case faultlessly fielding a bombardment of restart kicks which he used intelligently, getting us moving forward and laying back effectively to the supporting forwards.
After that it did get a bit one-sided, all credit to Bredon though for coming and never dropping their heads, their winger caught us napping at the end. Final score 51-5.

Man of the match over the 2 games ? Difficult to say with so many candidates - Ross scoring 4 tries and Will 3, Eliot distributing the ball effectively (bar 1 count of feeding a stationary but nameless forward stood where he shouldn't have been) and some tireless (if largely unseen) work around the pitch by Jordan. Jim gets better every chance he gets to play up front while Jack attracted that many defenders he created a lot of space for the colleagues around him.

No resting on any laurels though, next week will be a fresh challenge and places are up for grabs in the District squad for the Greater Birmingham game a week Friday. Lets keep up the momentum to the end of the season.

Huw

Sunday 30th Mar 2008

Moseley u14 48, Stourbridge u14 5 (HT 12-0).

Team : 1. Gareth Shaw, 2. Max Park-Davies, 3. Rhys Lockley, 4. Tom Partridge, 5. 'Ronnie' (debut), 6. Jordan Pope, 7. Ellis Williams, 8. Tom Lloyd-Roberts, 9. Eliot Hopkin, 10. Will Harris (capt.), 11. Jim Lee, 12. Jake Eden, 13. Ross Anthony, 14. 'Dom', 15. Natty Drew.

Scorer : Jordan Pope (T)

A bare fifteen Stourbridge players battled bravely and frequently forced errors from their classy opponents, but a benchful of halftime subs made a big difference and Moseley cut loose in the second half as Stourbridge legs tired. A well-earned consolation try was sneaked by Jordan Pope as Moseley turned their backs at a short-range penalty.

The half-time score tells a tale, this was a strong battling performance from a Stourbridge side that stood up well but in the end were out-gassed by a Moseley team that were able to draw from a well-stocked replacements bench.

When Stourbridge were able to string phases together they were able to put pressure on their opponents, force errors and capitalise with some strong tackling and good post-tackle skills, but unfortunately we committed too many errors ourselves, putting ourselves under pressure with a few missed tackles, fumbles, lost scrums and turnovers from getting held up in the maul.

We were able to create some space for our outside backs on a few occasions, with Dom putting in a couple of mazy runs as well as some strong tackles. Jim again was good enough to play out of position, staying on his feet well in contact and laying the ball back well for the arriving support - something in fact the entire team did well. Up front Ellis and Jordan led the tackle count and the oppposition found Max at his pain-in-the-neck best, with Eliot running him a close second.

What I was really pleased with was the way our heads never dropped and we kept alert. Jordan's fine opportunist try was slim pickings on the day but richly deserved. A good debut as well for Ronnie, who proved a solid operator in the tight as well as a strong tackler and comedian to boot.

With a few players returning next Sunday and familiar oponents in Old Hales we can look forward to another keenly contested battle up front and hopefully a little more to show for our efforts.

Huw

Sunday 9th Mar 2008

Stourbridge u14 5, Wolverhampton u14 34

Team : 1. Aidan Avey, 2. Gareth Shaw. 3. Rhys Lockley, 4. Tom Lloyd-Roberts, 5. Tom Partridge, 6. Ellis Williams, 7. Max Park-Davies, 8. Ryan Bate (capt.), 9. Eliot Hopkin, 10. Ross Anthony, 11. Jim Lee, 12. Jake Eden (sub. Bertie Morgan), 13. Jordan Page, 14. Dom (debut), 15. Natty Drew.

Scorer : Ross Anthony (T)

Upon arrival at Stourton Park at 10 am we found Wolverhampton had arrived and were warming up and at 10.30 we still only had 6 players available.This leaves us looking like a poor outfit before we start and gives the opposition a lift before a ball is touched. Please try to arrive earlier to allow time for a proper warm up and to get in the right frame of mind to compete from the start.

That said by 10 45 we were up and running and after a warm up were ready to give Wolves a game. This we did from the off and kept them under pressure pinning them back in their own half with good effective rucking and spoiling what possession they won.The Wolves three quarters became increasingly frustrated with numerous passes not going to hand under pressure from a determined back contingent of Ross, Jordan, Jake, Elliot and ably assisted by Jimmy on one wing and debutant Dom on the other, Natty cleaning up any kicks at the back.This went well but an injury to Jake early on brought our only sub Bertie into the game onto the wing.

Shortly after, against the run of play, following several missed tackles Wolves scored and we were 5-0 down the conversion missed. The kick off and chase was good and again missed tackles let them in for another score. 0-12. This time we kicked off again and following some good work from the forwards we retained possession and set up some good 1st and 2nd phase ball to work to our backs with Ross spotting a gap and running over from a full 40 yards. The conversion was missed, 5-12.

Wolverhampton kicked off and following a good catch and drive from Aidan assisted by good 2nd phase pick and go by Tom P and Tom L-R we worked our way into their half only to turn over possession from which they ran through us again to score in the corner. 5-17 A further score and we went in 5-22 at half time.

The second half we decided to shuffle the pack with Jimmy going onto the flank, Ryan to center, Ellis to 8, with the intention to combat their strong running backs. This worked well restricting them to 2 more tries only in the 2nd half with excellent cover tackling from Jordan, Max and Ryan. The Wolves coaches threw on 9 subs in an effort to overrun our tired legs but a monumental effort from our forwards and a spirited tackle and defensive display from the backs kept them out for the final stages. Man of the match was too hard to choose and therefore I would like to nominate the whole team for what was a show of sheer determination and spirit and working together. Remember TEAMS win and lose TOGETHER. WELL DONE ALL OF YOU!

Ada

Sunday 2nd Mar 2008
Stourbridge u14 5, Stoke on Trent u14 41 (HT 5-10).

Team : 1. Aidan Avey, 2. Gareth Shaw, 3. Rhys Lockley, 4. Tom Lloyd-Roberts, 5. Tom Partridge, 6. Brindley Gilliam, 7. Ellis Williams, 8. Ryan Bate (capt.), 9. Eliot Hopkin, 10. Jake Eden, 11. Jim Lee, 12. Ross Anthony, 13. Jordan Page, 14. Bertie Morgan, 15. Natty Drew.

Scorer : Ross Anthony (T).

A Stourbridge u14 side depleted by a few absences comes down to earth with a bump as Stoke on Trent u14's teach them a lesson in using the climatic conditions to full advantage. Just a solitary effort by Ross to show in a 41-5 thumping.

Sunday 17th Feb 2008

Birmingham-Solihull u14 5, Stourbridge u14 33 (HT 5-21).

Team : 1. Aidan Avey, 2. Max Park-Davies, 3. Rhys Lockley, 4. Tom Lloyd-Roberts, 5. Tom Partridge, 6. Jack Yates, 7. Ellis Williams, 8. Ryan Bate (capt.), 9. Eliot Hopkin, 10. Will Harris, 11. Henry Baker (sub. Dan Hughes), 12. Jordan Page, 13. Jake Eden (sub. Jim Lee), 14. Bertie Morgan, 15. Natty Drew.

Scorers : Jack Yates (3T), Tom Lloyd-Roberts (T), Will Harris (T, 4C).

A good away win for Stourbridge on a pitch that was frozen at 11am but fine come the rescheduled 11.30am start. Numerous individual contributions but Jack Yates' first half hat-trick of long distance individual efforts was the icing on the cake.

Stourbridge u14 gained revenge for 2 losses to Birmingham-Solihull last season, one of them in the quarter-final of the tournament in April. Though littered throughout with errors from both sides it was Stourbridge's defensive efforts that were key, just twice allowing B-S to cross our tryline and regularly driving their ball-carrying forwards backwards. All 5 Stourbridge tries came from long-distance efforts, as neither side was able to hold onto the ball long enough to put sustained pressure on their opponents' line.

With Ross and George still injured it was plan C we operated in the centres where Jake and Jordan took the 12 and 13 jerseys, Natty slotting in at fullback. An extended warm-up due to the frozen pitch enabled us to run through a few backline moves, unfortunately this came to nought when Jake was forced off in the 2nd half after a heavy knock left him with blood pouring from a broken nose. I'm happy to report (Mon evening) that he is much better now with much of the swelling gone. It could have been worse - a reminder to all of the value of wearing a fitted gum shield.

We were barely out of 1st gear in the first 5min of the game, allowing B-S to recover the kick-off and putting ourselves immediately under pressure by failing to take responsibility for loose ball. B-S drove us into our 22 and before long had put a ball carrier into space down the left side to run over our goal line only to drop the ball before grounding it - a big let off but we were to return the compliment later (names witheld to protect the guilty). We secured possession at the 5m scrummage (the scrum was one of our strongest phases) and gradually worked our way up to centre field where Jack received a pass and proceeded to give B-S a perfect demonstration of how difficult it is to stop a powerful opponent when you go too high in the tackle. 3 or 4 hand-offs later and a fair turn of speed to evade the cover defence put him under the posts for the opening score which Will duly converted, 0-7.

Our restart play was slack again and B-S recovered the ball and started to grind their way back towards our line. Their principal method of attack was a repeat of what Bridgnorth did to us - putting big runners down the no.1 channels to the fringes of rucks and mauls - but by contrast to the Bridgnorth game this time we had the weapons in the armoury to stop them. Ryan and Jack put in some very big hits around the fringes, ably assisted by the cover tackling of Will, Max, Ellis and Jordan amongst others - we snuffed out drive after drive and B-S occasionally resorted to kicking out of hand or running at us out wide, where with no real pace evident on the pitch it usually ended up in touch with little ground gained.

Jack then bagged his second try, not unreasonably working on the theory that what works once might work again. Another 40m run with would-be tacklers left brushed aside in his wake, a try under the posts and another easy 2 points for Will. 0-14.

We then lost concentration for a while to let B-S back into the game with an unconverted try, 5-14, but the half wasn't over and Jack repeated the exercise once more with his hat-trick try again converted : 5-21 and the whistle went for half time. Ryan had taken a big hit just a couple of minutes before ("where does it hurt?" "all over!") but came back on, with Jim Lee coming into the second row. Halftime team talk was 'more of the same', preferably a bit less frantic at the base of the rucks where individuals (quite possibly those wearing '2' and '5') turned over ball more than once by running unsupported into the defence rather than calling for support and going as a unit - guess what's coming up in training over the next few weeks, again (part 1).

I must complement our forwards on our lineout play - up against some very large opponents we mixed it up well and kept it away from their target men, well done Max who called intelligently, hit his jumpers regularly and tested the referee's interpretation of 'not straight' to the very limits. Only criticism - somebody has to take ownership by dropping on the loose tap ball, I am amazed Eliot did not suffer an injury like Jake's given all the loose stuff coming back at him.

The second half saw numerous re-shuffles of our very flexible playing resource, indeed Jim must have got giddy with the changes having gone 2nd row, back row, winger, 2nd row again, hooker (er, no, rethink by the coaches before it happened) and finally back to 2nd row again. Jack ended up in the centres, Tom P at hooker (one taken against the head, well done), Max in his preferred back row slot at the death and with casual spectator Dan Hughes careless enough to let me spot him stood in kit with nothing to do he got pressganged onto the left wing after Henry got splatted by a marginal hit after he'd put in a nice little chip ahead.

B-S barely got out of their half in the second period, and while we inevitably tired we secured enough first phase ball to keep them pinned back. Tom Lloyd-Roberts grabbed a try through sheer hard work following a drive forward, converted again by Will, who then followed up his speculative chip ahead to ground a ball that went loose off an opponent in the in-goal area but then ruined his kicking stats by pushing the conversion effort to the right of the posts.

What was remarkable about our victory was that we did it with limited continuity of possession. Time after time we were turned over post-tackle as B-S drove us off the ball - a combination of better body position and technique and a few of our forwards' tired legs failing to get there before the ball was lost. At other times the supporting players arrived at the tackle so sporadically that one ended up going to floor - an easy call for the ref to penalise. Another couple of aspects of our game as will be coming up in training over the next week or so.

But I don't want to end on a negative note, we were well worth the win and it was nice to get back-to-back victories on the road. Our handling was of a pretty high standard, our defence almost watertight and our pack are now a very effective unit in the set-piece. Eliot is getting a decent supply of ball for Will to use, his pass range significantly improved. Jordan showed us what we'd been missing while he was ill - effective in both attack and defence - and it made a pleasant change to see all of our back 3 get ball in hand in attack. Jack's strength and technique are obvious to all, and it is a very hard call to go against him for man of the match but it goes to the man who made a complete pain in the neck of himself all day to the opposition, spoiling their post-tackle ball time after time, legally and occasionally otherwise - well done Max. Take the total frustration of the opponent who threw you about near the end as about the biggest compliment you can get.

Huw

Sunday 3rd Feb 2008

Old Halesonians u14 12, Stourbridge u14 36 (HT 7-17)

Team : Aidan Avey, Gareth Shaw (debut), Rhys Lockley, Tom Partridge, Tom Lloyd-Roberts, Brindley Gilliam, Max Park-Davies, Ryan Bate (capt.), Eliot Hopkin, Will Harris, Henry Baker, Jack Yates (debut), Ellis Williams (debut), Jim Lee, Bertie Morgan.

Scorers : Jack Yates (2T), Tom Lloyd-Roberts (2T), Ryan Bate (T), Ellis Williams (T), Will Harris (3C).

Given we had a bare 15 players - including 3 making their debut - this was a very good performance by Stourbridge u14's. Plans A, B, C, D, E & F were all unavailable in the centres (Ross, George, Jake, Jordan & Natty all unavailable and no cover at scrumhalf to release Eliot) so plan G involved debutant wannabe forwards Jack and Ellis stepping up - between them they scored 3 tries with some good oldfashioned straight running.

Old Hales were generous enough to postpone the kick-off 10min to allow us to cobble together a side from the 15 individuals who'd made it up to Wassell Grove, my apologies to Gareth and his parents who understandably hadn't got the message about the change of plan (do you lot talk to each other at Redhill School ?).

A quick head count revealed a whole host of forwards and a pair of half-backs but a distinct shortage of threequarters, especially so as Harry had a crocked arm from last week (get well soon) and was stood on the sidelines with his arm in a sling.

So apologies for the distinct lack of focus in the pre-match, but as indicated earlier we were down to plan G. Jim kindly agreed to cover a wing spot again, going on to see little ball but to put in a thumping low tackle that forced his opposite number off the pitch injured after a couple of dangerous looking runs. With Bertie and Henry covering the other back 3 spots that left us looking for volunteers to play centre, up stepped debutants Ellis and Jack - and then at the 11th hour Gareth appeared to play hooker, producing the biggest grin of the day on the face of Max who for the first time this season managed to get hold of the no.7 jersey. Game on.

The pitch was damp and heavy, the end-to-end wind pretty fresh and the opposition looked more bludgeon than rapier, so the game plan wasn't complicated - no mauling, we get our ball carriers over the gain line and ruck to recycle possession, keep taking it wide for several phases before looking to switch the point of attack.

Ryan won the toss (again !) and wisely took his coach's advice to have first use of the wind. Our fielding of the kick-off was more Wales than England but a few probing runs showed that the direct approach paid dividends and we started generating some good quick ball for Eliot who was able to feed it on to Will in a steady stream. A half-break on the opposition's 22 put Jack into space and he needed no second invitation to carve his way to the line for an excellent debut try.

The forwards grew in confidence as the first half progressed, Max in particular relishing the space and freedom of the openside-flanker role. Though the opposition tackled well we protected and recycled our ball consistently, crucially getting over the gain line and so allowing the support runners to sustain the move's momentum. After several phases of this the fringe cover was usually sucked in and opportunities to ‘pick and drive' presented themselves - Tom Lloyd-Roberts needed no second invitation and drove himself over the line to score the second try.

The third try came from Ryan, who emerged from the middle of a maul to drop over the line and score one of his more short-range efforts, this one being upwind of the posts and allowing Will to kick the conversion.

Hales weren't out of the game yet though and in a rare foray into our 22 their very impressive captain managed to gather enough momentum to carry 3 defenders with him at least 5m over the line to score. Their kicker converted and despite dominating the half we led at halftime by just 10 points - sound familiar ?

The halftime team talk demanding ‘more of the same', with tighter binding in the rucks to prevent some effective counter-rucking by Hales, plus a further reminder to concentrate on the more effective tactic of running forwards with your team-mates in support rather than running sideways and leaving them behind !

Hales came straight out of the blocks in the 2nd half and immediately put us under pressure with a well-taken try, cutting the lead to 5 points, and with the wind against us things suddenly didn't look quite so rosy. But we countered by keeping the ball in hand, moving it wide and sending our straight-running centres into the gaps that appeared. It wasn't long before other debutant Ellis had also bagged a try after linking well with Jack. Will slotted the conversion and we were back in business.

The further scores came from carbon copy second tries for Tom and Jack plus a third conversion for Will. Hales were desperately close to scoring at the death, their player most unlucky to lose control of the ball in crossing the line.

There were many positives in this game for Stourbridge u14 - a welcome return to winning ways and sound debut performances from Gareth (who I thought hooked and threw extremely tidily) and the two centres.

There were areas we could have improved on however, notably our workrate in defence which was occasionally less than it needed to be, plus one or two individuals got a bit carried away with the occasion, running too far from the support and so managing to present the opposition with gift-wrapped turnover ball. We were also I think guilty of passing up the opportunity to make their front 5 more uncomfortable on their own scrum ball - indeed by the end they were even getting the nudge on our ball.

But well done everybody, you were well worth the win. We now have a training session next Sunday for those who are around, after that it will be another boggy away trip, this time to Birmingham-Solihull's Portway ground just to the south of M42 j3.

Huw

Sunday 20th Jan 2008

Whitchurch u14 34, Stourbridge u14 19 (NMids Plate competition)

Team : Bertie Morgan, Harry Baker, Jake Eden, George Derham, Henry Baker, Will Harris, Eliot Hopkin, Aidan Avey, Max Park-Davies, Rhys Lockley, Tom Lloyd-Roberts, Tom Partridge, Brindley Gilliam, Jordan Pope, Ryan Bate (capt.).

Scorers : Tom Partidge (T), Max Park-Davies (T), Ryan Bate (T), Will Harris (2C).

A much improved performance from Stourbridge who contested the game for the full 50min and scored 3 tries, making the home side dig deep for their win. Tries for Tom Partridge (his first for the club!), Max and Ryan with 2 conversions from Will. Well done to every one of the bare 15 who travelled to play.

A long trek north and a squad that arrived in dribs and drabs all made for a rather nervous start, but come 2min before scheduled kick off we'd finally managed to get 15 together (just, a big thank you to all the parents who provided lifts, especially those of the unplanned nature as provided by our scrum half's Dad).

Unsurprisingly we started a bit cold and put ourselves straight under pressure by failing to collect the kick-off cleanly. Whitchurch were straight on the front foot and unleashed their pacy backline on several occasions having drawn in our 10 & 12 channel cover, creating overlaps that fortunately went a-begging a couple of times as the ball carriers spurned 3-man overlaps to seek contact back infield.

But the pressure told and within 10min we were 10-0 down and looking at a very hard day at the office if we didn't buck our ideas up. That provided the kick start though and the forwards started to grind out some useful yardage, our ball retention and contact-area performance much improved on last week and Whitchurch struggled to get their hands on the ball for long stretches of play. Good to see Brindley back to something like the level of performace he is capable of, knocking great big holes at the contact area, though I have to add the caveat 'when he got there'.

We clearly missed Ross on the day, but once George and Jake had got their defensive radar tuned and Eliot started calling out defensive scrum ball to the flankers we started to repel Whitchurch's attacks more effectively. We did struggle though with Whitchurch's no.8 breaking wide down the short side of the scrum a few times, better 'heads up' defending needed though you can't argue with out and out pace.

Will used the wind effectively in the first half and our lineout was another area of strength, it was from a 5m attacking line that we secured our first try as Tom Partidge demonstrated he'd learnt the lessons from last week, had his head down to spot loose ball that had emerged from a maul and drove for all he was worth for the line. His first try for the club and he'll doubtless be claiming it was a 30m run though I reckon more like 5m. But no matter we'd got on the scoreboard.

Our second try came after a further period of pressure on the Whitchurch line, the inevitable Max emerged from the bottom of a pile of bodies to claim it, Will banged over a difficult conversion and we reached half-time at just 15-12 down having given away 10 points before we'd woken up. Game on.

The second half was always going to be difficult given the lack of bench cover, but unlike last week the game remained competitive throughout and Whitchurch were tested right up to the final whistle. Though we conceded several more scores, mostly through being outgunned for pace, Ryan did manage to barge over from a penalty move and Will slotted another difficult 2 point-er.

Well done to Tom Lloyd-Roberts who slotted back in like he'd never been on holiday and to Max who pulled off a few more of his last-ditch tackles on runners who must have wondered what on earth hit them. Our scrum was solid all game - well done Rhys and Aidan - and it was noticeable how much more time and space Will is getting to work with now Eliot has developed the range and accuracy of his pass. Ryan and Jordan led by example, as ever, Aidan made a thorough nuisance of himself to the opposition on restarts and the back three of Harry, Henry and Bertie kept their heads up despite a steady diet of big runners coming down the outside channels at them.

But man-of-the-match has to go to the big fella for his unstoppable 5m debut try - well done Thomas.

Huw

Sunday 13th Jan 2008

Bridgnorth u14 lots, Stourbridge u14 7.

Team : Natty Drew (sub. Bertie Morgan), Rhys Williams* (debut) (sub. Christian Smith*), Jake Eden, Ross Anthony (sub Jack Simmons* (debut)), Jonathan Hughes* (debut), Will Harris, Eliot Hopkin, Aidan Avey, Max Park-Davies, Rhys Lockley, Tom Partridge, Jim Lee, Harry Toombs*, Jordan Page, Ryan Bate (capt).

Scorers : Ryan Bate (T), Will Harris (C)

*denotes u13 player

A sticky, muddy surface, several unavailabilities due to illness, and opponents with a 10-man (no, make that a 9-man ) gameplan all conspired to make this our heaviest defeat of the season. With Natty and Ross (see below) forced off through injury before halftime we actually ended the game with 4 borrowed u13's on the pitch, and despite the score played some good rugby at times. Tryscorer was Ryan and there were impressive individual rearguard performances from many - Max and Jordan in particular. All 5 of the u13s who turned out played well and will have gained invaluable experienced against large, physical opponents.

Stourbridge u14 played with the wind at their backs for the first 25min half and put in a very creditable performance, scoring a converted try on the 24th minute to reduce the arrears to 12-7. Bridgnorth had scored two tries previously by the uncomplicated tactic of sending their big guys down the thinly defended fringes of the tackle/ruck/maul areas, despite some good first-up tackling in these channels by the tireless Jordan we pretty much gifted the scores by some tackling as might politely be described as 'flimsy'.

We took a while to adapt to the soggy conditions, but used the wind well to our advantage with some good clearance kicking fom Will, with both wingers chasing and putting the Bridnorth back 3 under pressure, frequently resulting in a knock-on and a big gain in ground for us. After a few conceded strikes against the head Eliot listened intelligently to the advice of his coaches and cannily negated Bridgnorth's early shove on our scrum ball by delaying the feed until it stopped moving, after which we won all our own scrum ball and started to give the backs some decent possession to work with.

Will started switching the angles of running around and linking with his outside runners, gaining decent territory on several occasions but unfortunately these attacks were snuffed out all too often by our failure to get sufficient numbers over the ball at the breakdowns - and while Bridgnorth did not exploit this as brutally as did Walsall last week it is an area where we have a lot of work still to do.

As mentioned previously, Bridgnorth's play was effective if a little one-dimensional, and after all our efforts to move it wide in attack it was disappointing to gift scores to a couple of individual Bridgnorth ball carriers who did nothing more complex than run hard and straight at us.

We took a hammer blow late in the first half as Ross was forced off with an injured shoulder - see note elsewhere on his injury but losing him took away one of our key attacking options and the writing was pretty much on the wall, especially so with Natty also forced off with an ankle injury. But Ross's efforts prior to the injury had not been in vain, for from the resulting delayed tap penalty we treated Bridgnorth to a little of their own medicine as Ryan ran straight (that's directly towards the opponents' tryline Max) and hard to grab a well-deserved score, Will adding the extra points.

There's little to say about the second half except that we were unable to secure enough ball to attack Bridgnorth's weak area - their underused backs - and spent much of the half on the back foot. In such circumstances bodies and minds tire and we were guilty on several occasions of just watching opponents drive over what should have been our tackle ball. With Jordan unselfishly stepping into the centre berth it left a big defensive burden for others to pick up, though no blame at all on our two inexperienced young flankers - it would have been a big ask of seasoned veterans. In the mauls we were mostly too upright, a stronger 'heads down' driving body position would have enabled a few of us to spot the ball that just rolled out of one and enabled their prop to pick up and run 40m to score. I do have to mention Max here though for his excellent cover defence, he downed several runners by sheer force of character and must have covered more ground than anyone else on the pitch. I was just glad I didn't have him in my car on the way back 'cos I have rarely seen anybody so caked in mud.

But fair play to our opponents who executed their game plane very effectively and played the game in good spirit, the approach of their spectators also made a refreshing change from last week. The referee was also very fair and probably even gave us a little more than we deserved.

To end on a positive note though, well played to all five of the u13's who so gallantly stepped into the breech for us and acquitted themselves extremely well I thought, especially Jonny and Harry who had to play the full 50min. Jonny at one stage executed a textbook head-on low tackle on an opponent who must have been twice his size.

So plenty of work to do as we turn our thoughts to a long trip up the A41 to Whitchurch next week, and big games needed from some of the guys returning from unavailability this week.

Huw

Sunday 6th Jan 2008

Stourbridge u14 12, Walsall u14 26.

Team : Aidan Avey, Max Park-Davies, Rhys Lockley, Tom Partridge, Natty Drew, Brindley Gilliam, Jordan Pope, Ryan Bate (capt.), Eliot Hopkin, Will Harris, Harry Baker (sub. Tom Molineux), George Derham, Ross Anthony, Henry Baker (sub. Charlie Turner), Jake Eden (sub Jim Lee).

Scorers : Ryan Bate (T), Natty Drew (T), Will Harris (C).

Man-of-the-match : Jordan Pope

We were beaten by a fitter, well drilled Walsall side who made us cough up possession repeatedly, mostly by getting more of their forwards in numbers to the breakdowns. Individuals played well, of note man-of-the-match Jordan Pope who was a perpetual motion machine and Natty Drew who carved a beautiful arc from fullback to outstrip the cover and score his first try for the club. The scoreline flatters us though as we were 'nilled' by their powerful starting XV whose backs used quick ball to great effect, profiting from some loose clearance kicks and shrugging off some flimsy tackling. Full report follows...............

While the warm-up had been good and we looked switched on at the kick off, Stourbridge u14's rapidly started to look as though they were collectively suffering the after-effects of seasonal excess - too much Christmas pud and Playstation time and not enough exercise I suspect.

The story of the first half was a 3 converted try to nil scoreline in favour of Walsall's frontline selection, who looked considerably fitter and more mobile as a unit. Their ball retention was first class at the breakdowns and they preyed mercilessly on Stourbridge ball carriers who got tackled and waited in vain for support players to arrive.
We did have a few forays up the hill into their half however, but were unable to turn them into points and their kicker was able to drive us back continually, several times getting the ball over Jake's head as he retreated at pace.

The second half was a different story, as the opposition gave a few more inexperienced lads a go and we scented opportunities. Though we were down to a bare 15 players at this stage I was pleased that we managed to pick the tempo up a bit and started to provide Eliot with ball that wasn't going back at a rate of knots - Max and Rhys even conspired to sneak a couple against the head in the scrums.

Will started to open gaps in the Walsall defence and one on occasion it was just a the last pass going to ground that prevented Ross going clean through to the corner. No matter, we maintained the pressure and when Natty (now at fullback) fielded a loose clearance kick it always looked possible that he would create something - as it was he carved a fine arc around the cover defence and just squeezed in at the corner. Our first try had come from another strong run from Ryan who scored wide out to the right but this presented no problem to Will who slotted a fine conversion kick.

Difficult to identify individuals on the day but I thought the entire front row put in a great effort, Jordan gets man-of-the-match for a wonderful display of tackling, straight running and support play, while Natty looked more than comfortable patrolling the backfield.

2 games coming up in the next 2 weeks but the training session after that has got ‘Fitness beasting' written all over it unless we all make an effort in the meantime on our personal fitness levels. Please.

Huw

Sunday 10th Dec 2007

Stourbridge u14 0, Droitwich u14 32

Team : Aidan Avey (sub Harry Tombs (debut)), Max Park-Davies, Rhys Lockley, Tom Partridge, Tom Lloyd-Roberts, Brindley Gilliam, Jordan Pope, Ryan Bate (capt) (sub Jim Lee), Eliot Hopkin (v-capt), Will Harris (sub. Jack ?? (debut)), Harry Baker, George Derham, Ross Anthony, Henry Baker (sub Christian Smith (debut)), Jake Eden.

Present (unfit to play) : Natty Drew, Rhys Jenkins.

Man of the match : Max Park-Davies

With both Droitwich and Stourton Park pitches declared unfit, this game was moved to a muddy but perfectly playable Summerhill School. A streetwise, physical and well-drilled Droitwich outfit, enjoying a significant physical advantage in the threequarters, proved too strong for a Stourbridge side weakened by illness and injury. Stourbridge never gave up though and gave a good account of themselves in difficult conditions, making Droitwich work hard for most of their scores. Full report ......................

A hard day at the office - a damp surface, 4 guys forced off during the game due to injury or illness, and a well-drilled opposition with an outstanding fullback meant that Stourbridge u14 were up against it for the full 50min of this contest.

On a seemingly flat Summerhill School pitch with little or no wind it appeared initially that the only environmental influence would be the sticky surface, we found ourselves playing up a deceptive slope in the first half however and it proved very difficult to advance out of our own half. Droitwich's back row and scrumhalf pressurised our clearance kicks and we discovered that the opposition fullback was very capable at both kicking out of hand and running from deep, our failure to chase our kicks effectively to shut him down proving costly on several occasions as he brought play right back into our 22.

Up front we were pretty evenly matched in both tight and loose phases, and even when Aidan was forced off due to nausea we held our own in the scrum, Brindley demonstrating he has lost none of his strength and technique at loosehead prop. We generally cleared the breakdown areas well and recycled possession in contact, though our backs were shut down by our opponents' 'rush' defence and one or two poor passes put us under pressure. Droitwich's 3 first half tries came from their ability to move the ball wide at pace, stretching our defence to breaking point, from an opportunist long punt that we failed to clear as we were caught napping at a stoppage, and finally from some uncharacteristically powder-puff defence up front as Droitwich ran hard and straight at us from close range.

Things weren't all one way though, we did gain territory from our opponents occasional indiscipline and put some promising phases together - at one stage getting quick ball out wide to Ross, who broke clear and looked a dead cert to score until he was held up by a last ditch tackle, their influential fullback again I suspect.

In addition to Aidan, we lost Ryan, Will and Henry (or was it Harry....sorry) to injuries, so as the second half started it looked like a cricket score might be on the cards. The subs who came on stepped up exceptionally well though and we held them to just 3 more tries, a very creditable performance given some fundamental re-shuffling in key positions. Harry Tombs put in a fine run, staying on his feet well to enable him to hang onto the ball until the support arrived, while Christian Smith looked very capable playing out of position on the wing, at one stage executing a great low tackle on a considerably larger opponent who seemed to think he'd just stroll round him. And Jack (once he'd removed the bling) did exactly as he was asked, following his forward colleagues' running patterns and driving hard in the scrums and mauls. Jim continued to make progress as a forward, making his presence felt in tight and loose.

We got into the Droitwich 22 on several occasions in the second half and forced them to concede some short-distance penalties, but we are going to have to work on our tap kick moves again as we were picking out ball carriers who appeared to have ABS brakes fitted (names withheld to protect the guilty) who got held up short of the line all too easily.

So plenty to think about before our next game against Walsall in the New Year, and I suspect a few nasty shin bruises for Max and the hooker and tighthead who were packing down against him. All three exchanged calling cards on a number of occasions when things got a little heated, and I doubt they'll be sending each other Christmas cards. But the Droitwich coaching staff identified Max as our outstanding player on the day and I'm not about to argue so he gets man of the match, plus to be fair he did as asked and recorded a 'zero' in the turnover column so that's a job well done Max. Quite how he stole the ball from a Droitwich driving maul on our line I am unsure, but he ran them back 20 yards before the cover got him, quite a feat when a try looked a dead cert.

So heads up, we have played worse in the past and got a better result. We will learn from this and move forward. Be there 10.30 sharp next week for an intensive training session before you tuck into the festive mince pies.

Huw

Sunday 2nd December 2007

Dudley-Kingswinford u14 21, Stourbridge u14 0

Team: Aiden Avey, Max Park-Davies, Rhys Lockley, Tom Partridge, Tom Lloyd-Roberts, Brindley Gilliam, Jim Lee, Ryan Bate (capt), Eliot Hopkin, Will Harris, Natty Drew, George Derham, Jordan Pope, Charlie Turner.

Tom Molineux (in attendance but unable to play due to illness)

Stourbridge arrived at DK having accepted an offer of a re-match following their victory over their local rivals at Stourton Park last month. But due to an unfortunate combination of illness, injury and prior commitments, Stour were only able to field 14 players.

Stour lost the toss, and had to play into the gale-force wind in the first half. A good kick off forced a DK knock on and the ensuing scrum was won by Stour, but a promising move broke down with a knock forward that went right into the hands of one of DK's centres, who had a long, but almost unopposed run in under the posts, leaving an easy but well taken conversion.

Stour picked their heads up and started again in the same fashion, camping out in DK's half, being aggressive at the breakdown area and maintaining good continuity, keeping the ball for many phases of play at a time. However, DK's defence held firm and, using the wind to their advantage, they cleared their lines with good defensive kicking. Despite Stour's best efforts they could not penetrate that last 20 metres towards the DK line and it was almost inevitable when another breakaway try occurred. The final minutes of the half followed the same pattern with Stour making all the play but being held up by the final pass going astray or good DK defensive work. Attack after attack was stopped short. Just before half time another counterattack launched from deep saw a third try for DK.

A second half against a team with a good lead is a hard ask for any team, especially one a man down and with no subs. But Stour set about their task just as they had done in the first half, this time Will using the wind to good effect, mixing up play with a varied kicking game. Almost the entire 2nd half was played in DK territory, with constant pressure from the Stour pack, winning ball after ball which was moved left and right across the threequarter line. But again the DK defence held firm and snuffed out Stour's attacks, though the occasional counterattack was this time successfully chased down with good covering tackles from Jordan and Ryan. As the clocked ticked down Stour got closer and closer to the elusive try with both Tom's picking and going on strong runs that were stopped just short of the line.

The last few minutes saw a host of penalties awarded to the away team as DK desperately defended their line, their defence ultimately frustrating Stour's attack and managing to shut the visitors out.

Lessons learned from the game:

1. In windy, poor conditions, your passes must be accurate and sympathetic to the receiver, many times we squandered good possession with a poor pass.

2. Tackles! That was the difference between the two teams. Although individuals did tackle well, as a team we missed too many - DK made a much higher percentage of their tackles, while their big centres waltzed through our midfield on at least three occasions.

3. Despite the harsh conditions, our heads never dropped and the missed tackles were not due to any lack of effort - every Stourbridge player gave their all and can genuinely feel that the score should have been closer. But the harsh lesson is that the scoreboard doesn't lie - DK took their chances and we didn't.

Adam Harris

Sunday 19th Nov 2007

Malvern u14 12, Stourbridge u14 10

Team : Aidan Avey, Max Park-Davies, Rhys Lockley, Tom Partridge, Tom Lloyd-Roberts, Brindley Gilliam, Jim Lee (sub Tom Molineux), Ryan Bate (capt.), Jordan Pope, Jake Eden, Harry (or was it Henry, sorry) Baker, Eliot Hopkin, Ross Anthony, Natty Drew, Bertie Morgan.

Scorers : Ryan Bate (2T), one with a significant assist from Tom Lloyd-Roberts.

Man-of-the match : Ross Anthony

A match played in freezing temperatures and incessant rain, with a Stourbridge side weakened by injury and illness. Despite the numb fingers a great deal of continuity was achieved on a full-size pitch, with Malvern just getting the better of the encounter from a soft try and conversion conceded in one of their rare forays into our half as we played downhill in the second period. Stour unfortunately failed to take several opportunities to score when support runners were clear but the ball carrier failed to pass and got held up or hauled down by desperate last-ditch defence.

We lost Harry (or was it Henry, sorry) with a thigh strain in the warm-up, forcing Natty to start out to the wing. When Jim took a bang on the head after 10min it left us with a bare 15 frozen, sodden-wet individuals to last the remaining 40min, including the 'quality not quantity' package that is Tom Molineux, who came on to play a like a 5 year veteran out on the wing, letting nobody down and demonstrating remarkable nous for one so new to the game.

Ryan won the toss again and elected to play uphill first half, a choice that looked good when we had held Malvern to just a 5-point halftime lead and were dominating territory after the break, but in the end local knowledge counted - their fullback was pretty sound under the barrage of high balls we put his way second half whereas some of our clearance kicking was poor, putting us back under pressure and ultimately costing us points.

With virtually a full-strength pack on the park we were uncharacteristically disjointed and subdued in the loose play, allowing Malvern to dominate the collision area around the tackle and occasionally turn over what should have been secure Stourbridge ball. Though our scrum and lineout were sound and Max stole a couple against the head, this did set us on the back foot a few times and put an unfamiliar backline under pressure, with players taking the ball stood still or running sideways with inevitable handling errors in the unpleasant conditions.

Ross took up the leadership of the backs with a typical gritty performance, pushing the offside line hard in defence and together with Eliot and Jordan putting in some hard, effective tackles. He took one outrageous interception on our 22 and was away clear for all money - with Ryan in support - but got hauled down by the outstanding cover defence of 2 Malvern players who covered back to bottle up the move.

We did front up on our line though, holding Malvern up in the maul on numerous occasions. Staunch tackling frequently repelled the waves of attacks coming down the hill at us. But in the end they got a try, well deserved on the balance of play, and we were grimly hanging on until the halftime whistle, score 5-0.

Any statistical measure would tell you we dominated the second half - territory, possession and points scored - but unfortunately we let Malvern in for a converted try that cost us the game. The game plan was to put the ball in the air and play the game in their 22, we executed this well and put their line under siege, a try for Ryan coming after a couple of chances had gone begging for want of a pass to the team-mate in space - we really have to work on this skill.

The crucial score for Malvern came fromm a dropped pass and kick through, we had several opportunities to drop on the ball to secure it but some individuals have obviously been playing too much 'Wendyball' in the playground and tried to hoof it - result being we ended up in our 22, and a fluffed clearance kick saw us concede a converted try. We came back though, exhausted bodies somehow driving again until Ryan got another short range drive over the line, but sadly too wide out for Jake to slot the conversion to level the scores. Full time 12-10 to Malvern who must have been absolutely chuffed when a draw seemed a fair result on balance.

Ross gets man-of-the match for drawing so many defenders in attack and covering so much ground in both attack and defence. Max also put in some tackles in places on the park a hooker had no business being, while Brindley showed that his confidence never went away (I swear I saw a grin more than once after a big hit) and he is returning to more effective levels of match fitness.

Finally thank you to all the parents, coaches and siblings who provided transport and braved the elements to encourage and cheer the team on, it is very much appreciated.

Training next weekend (see above for details), then DK away the week after. It doesn't get any warmer, drier or easier at this time of the season...........

Huw

Sunday 11th November 2007

Stourbridge u14 18, Silhillians u14 0

Team : Aidan Avey, Max Park-Davies, Rhys Lockley, Natty Drew (sub. Tom Partidge), Tom Lloyd-Roberts, Brindley Gilliam, Jordan Pope, Ryan Bate (capt.), Eliot Hopkin, Will Harris, Harry Baker (sub. Ricky Fitzgerald, Tom Molineux (debut)), George Derham (sub. Harry Reynolds), Ross Anthony, Henry Baker (sub. Jim Lee), Jake Eden.

Scorers : Will Harris (P), Tom Lloyd-Roberts (T), Ross Anthony (T), Max Park-Davies (T).

Man-of-the match : Jordan Pope

Stourbridge kicked off playing uphill with the wind at their backs, the game plan a very simple 'use the wind and play the rugby in the opponents' 22'. Our new warm-up routines have helped us come out of the blocks very quickly in recent matches, and this was to be no exception, with Sils under pressure immediately, rushing clearance kicks and dropping passes as Stourbridge tacklers closed down their time and space. Within 5min the pressure yielded a penalty in our favour on the 22 which Will calmly slotted from in front of the sticks, 3-0.

The next phase wasn't so clever as (not for the last time in the game) we let the restart kick bounce and turned over what should have been secure possession in our own half. Fortunately we soon regathered and Will hoofed it back upfield where we again pressurised the opposition and forced errors. Our threequarters were seeing plenty of ball and one move put Ross into sufficient space for him to turn on the afterburners and leave the defence trailing in his wake. The conversion attempt went just wide, 8-0.

We were very lucky on the restart when Antipodean referee 'Skippy' Hindson very generously adjudged a Sils player in front of the kicker - he gathered the kick on the full and was clean through our dozing defence, but we got the rub of the green and worked our way back upfield where a nicely worked set of phases found Tom Lloyd-Roberts 'goal-hanging' out in the centres, Will drew the defenders and put him in space and there was no catching him. Conversion missed, 13-0.

Sils at this point lost a second row to injury and your coach (in the spirit of the game) offered our 'impact' replacement Tom Partridge to ensure we remained at 15-a-side, Sils amazed me by having a jersey big enough for him and we carried on. We came very close to scoring another try when Harry (or was it Henry ? sorry) chased a kick from our 22 and was just hauled down short, all credit to referee Hindson's long-range vision as our player confirmed later that he was indeed held up short. Another kick and chase ended up with us penalised for falling over the defender who was on the floor with the ball, please remember that you need to stay on your feet in such a situation as the guy on the floor cannot just hold on to it unless he gets up immediately.

No further scores in the first half, but our rucking and mauling was good, scrums secure, lineouts pretty good, tackling decisive and handling mostly slick. Eliot was distributing good quick ball and our backs were using it to good effect, both with hand and boot.

The second half wasn't quite as pretty as our concentration went AWOL and we let some personal agendas get in the way of the team effort. We seemed to have lost interest in a game we really should have buried within 10min of halftime. All our good work in forcing errors from our opponents was undone by a string of careless penalties conceded, each costing us 20-30m as their kicker simply used the wind against us. It got a bit fractious in midfield when Will misread the ref's penalty signal and tried to take the ball off an opponent who not unsurprisingly declined to cooperate, as Will got put on the floor Ross decided to come to his teammate's aid (honourable intention but usually the reason minor flare-ups turn nasty and refs take a very dim view). Quite how Ross stayed on the pitch I confess I don't know, I can only assume Skippy had lost his yellow card or it was his birthday - anyway we stayed with 15 on the park but could easily have thrown it away because of indiscipline.

Anyway, not to dwell on that, the game having become a bit scrappy (in more ways than one), but Max finally nailed the 'W' with a trademark individual run almost from halfway, defenders grasping at thin air as he scorched through under the sticks. Skippy and Will disagreed about his approach to the conversion attempt, which was consequently disallowed and again I wondered what we had to do to get a player sin-binned.

Congratulations to Tom who came on for his debut on the wing with 10min to go, unfortunately we were not spreading the ball around at this stage as well as we had first half but I'm sure he'll get a touch of it soon !

Man-of-the-match goes to Jordan Pope, not just for the quality of his tackling, workrate and general support play, but also because he did all this quietly and without attracting the referee's attention. A mention also for props Aidan and Rhys who provided a very solid platform and got around the park well, and for Eliot whose passing improves every game and who proved a more-than-adequate second-half member of what is now a very competitive midfield unit.

A few things to work on but a win is a win. We will have to work hard next week to get back to the level of performance that saw us beat DK, but we are quite capable if we concentrate for the full 50min.

Huw

Sunday 28th October 2007

Stourbridge u14 12, Dudley-Kingswinford u14 5

Team : Aidan Avey, Max Park-Davies, Rhys Lockley, Natty Drew, Tom Lloyd-Roberts, Brindley Gilliam, Jordan Pope, Ryan Bate (capt.), Eliot Hopkin (sub. Harry Reynolds), Will Harris, Harry Baker (debut) (sub. Charlie Turner), George Derham, Ross Anthony, Henry Baker (debut) (sub. John Wilday), Jake Eden. (& Ricky Fitzgerald).

Scorers : Harry Reynolds (T), Ryan Bate (T), Jake Eden (C).

Stourbridge u14 growing confidence is boosted by a hard-earned victory against a DK side that had dominated previous encounters between the agegroup sides and battled hard for the full 50min. The proceedings were played out mostly in the one half of the pitch as a strong Southerly wind blew down the slope. Stourbridge's forwards laid the foundations for victory, achieving ascendancy in scrum and maul, and while the defensive effort was immense Stour's secondhalf tactical kicking proved decisive as DK were pinned into their own 22. Very promising debuts from the Baker twins who provided pace, safe hands and defensive solidity on the wings.

And I think quite possibly Harry Reynolds' first try for the club. Harry snuck in around the fringes of a driving maul and grounded the ball by sheer determination despite the attentions of 3 larger opponents. As well possibly that there was no video replay facility available.

Full report.....................

Ryan won the toss and opted to give our opponents first use of both wind and slope. A substantial crowd braved the elements to watch a near full-strength Stourbridge side (with the luxury of 4 subs) taking on our local derby opponents who I cannot recall beating since we moved to contact rugby at the u9 agegroup. The rain, wind and slippery surface all played their part, the game was a stop-start affair littered with handling errors, we seemed to be scrummaging every other minute of play. Much credit then to the Stourbridge forwards who more than matched their opponents in both scrum and maul, Aidan Avey in particular giving his opposing tighthead a torrid lesson in front row technique.
DK dominated the first half territorially, we got our fair share of possession though but were unable to get into their 22 for any sustained period, turning ball over though dropped passes or not-straight lineout throws. DK threw all they could at our defences, both up front and out wide, but our tackling was sound and crucially we were able to steal the ball at the tackle a couple of times where we seemed to want it more and surprised the opposition with some determined counter-rucking. On one occasion it was down to desperate body-on-the-line defence, a Stour body getting under the ball as DK attempted to ground it following a driving maul.

But DK deservedly took the lead with 5min or so to go, a well worked move to the left outflanking our defences to score out wide. The conversion was missed and we hung on grimly for the relieving sound of the halftime whistle, knowing the second half would give us the advantage of the elements and that we had restricted our opponents to just the one score.
Particular praise in the first half was due to the Baker twins who looked sound in defence and sharp in the few attacking opportunities that came their way, and to Eliot who managed to get the ball away to Will despite the attentions of DK’s very sharp no.9.

The second half proved to be more of the same, though this time it was Stour dominating territory. Crucially, though, we had spotted the attacking opportunity available by kicking the ball to the corners, full credit to Will who capitalized on this several times. Note for anybody wearing a jersey number lower than 9 – do not take quick tap penalties in your own half when there is a strong wind behind you !
Stourbridge’s forwards were now causing DK severe discomfort at the scrum, resulting in poor ball for their backs and a series of rushed clearances and turnovers which gave us forward momentum. DK turned us over as well a few times as we took the ball once too often on the pick-and-drive, only desperate defence grounded the powerful DK forward runners who fortunately also seemed to leave their support behind. We lost Brindley to a twisted ankle and with no obvious forward replacements it was Eliot who got to turn the tables and dish it out to the halfbacks from flanker.

One attacking Stour maul wide out was stopped just short of the line, but DK had to commit a large number of defenders to it, leaving a gap around the fringes that Harry spotted and darted into to ground the ball despite the desperate attempts of defenders to hold him up.
Conversion missed but the momentum was with us and shortly after Ryan took second phase ball to go on a characteristic mazy run round the outside, leaving 4 defenders trailing in his wake and managing to get behind the posts to score the winning try, duly converted by Jake.

All that remained then was to shut down the increasingly desperate long-range DK runners. Our tackling and fielding of the high ball remained sound – Charlie Turner take a bow for one inspired passage of play – before the final whistle came and victory was ours. Last, and not least, a big thank you to DK who were missing a few players away on halfterm holiday but gave 100% and played the game hard but fair and in the right spirit for the full 50min.
Huw

Sunday 7th October 2007

North Midlands Cup Prelim. Round Droitwich u14 32, Stourbridge u14 7

Team : Aidan Avey, Max Park-Davies, Rhys Lockley; Tom Partridge, Natty Drew, Brindley Gilliam, Ryan Bate (capt.), Eliot Hopkin, Will Harris, George Derham, Ross Anthony, John Wilday, Charlie Turner, Jordan Pope.

Scorers : Aidan Avey (T), Will Harris (C)

A brave, battling performance by a Stourbridge side handicapped from the start by unavailabilities and having to play with just 14 men. A Droitwich side with a full complement of replacements had to work hard for their victory on a full size pitch that left Stour exhausted by their efforts come the final whistle.

Sunday 30th September 2007

Stourbridge u14 15, Hereford u14 0

Team : Aidan Avey, Max Park-Davies, Rhys Lockley; Tom Partridge (sub. Natty Drew (debut)), Tom Lloyd-Roberts, Brindley Gilliam, Jordan Pope, Ryan Bate (capt.), Harry Reynolds, Will Harris, George Derham (debut), Ross Anthony, Eliot Hopkin, John Wilday (sub. Charlie Turner), Jake Eden.

Scorers : Ryan Bate (T), Ross Anthony (2T)
Man of the match : Ross Anthony

After 3 weeks of training and a 12-a-side tournament in Derby, the ‘proper’ action started last Sunday with a 15-a-side fixture against Hereford, who travelled with a bare 15 players but made us work very hard to get a result.
The key to our victory, and the first point to remember, was the pressure we put on our opponents. Our work in defence and around the contact area forced errors and penalties, we kicked intelligently for territory and disrupted their lineout ball. We turned them over a few times at the tackle and our first-up tackling was mostly good. Nothing complicated but most effective.

The game was littered with stoppages, mostly for handling errors, this made continuity difficult and as a result our threequarters received very little 2nd phase ball of any quality. Fortunately what they did get was used very effectively, with both Will and Ross looking very sharp, using debutant George at inside centre to run straight and strong at the defence and draw tacklers to create space for the outside runners.
Both scrum and lineout were very solid, and Max once again got through double everybody else’s workload playing at hooker. Only he knows how he got across to pull off a superb last-ditch tackle on their winger, who had run rings around everybody else.

When our ball carriers got to the floor in contact we were generally up quick in support and did well to secure and recycle possession at post-tackle and ruck. We were frequently guilty however of taking the ball just a few metres too far into contact and as a result having to stay on our feet until the support arrived to contest the maul. We managed to drive a few of these forward but more often than not the ball was either interminably slow (England-style) or got held up, meaning we conceded the put-in at the scrum. Second point : BALL CARRIERS MUST GET ON THE FLOOR IMMEDIATELY POST-CONTACT.
The pity was that many of these mauls came from very good quality 2nd phase ruck ball. Too many forwards went for ‘pick and drive’ when our backs were screaming for the ball as their opponents retreated. Harry and Eliot will be under orders to kick your butts next week if you repeat this when the ball should go wide. Third point : Scrum halves must get nasty with greedy forwards. From this criticism incidentally I exclude Tom Lloyd-Roberts who executed a personal ‘no turnovers’ game-plan most effectively.

Our tries came from Ryan, who barged over on the narrow side after ripping the ball out of a maul, plus two from Ross who weaved his way nicely through the defenders afters Will and George had drawn the tacklers and offloaded intelligently.
A mention for Natty Drew who made a very promising debut, putting in a tremendous amount of work up front and a couple of very strong runs with the ball. And nice to see Brindley back on form, displaying great self-discipline despite the provocation of an opponent who yet again lost the plot playing against us.

Next week we are up against Droitwich in our first ever North Midlands cup game. It should be a good contest - last year they were a well drilled outfit who won by putting us under pressure and turning us over in contact, though when we got good ball in hand we were able to score against them. If we can learn the lessons and step up a level from this performance then I’m sure we can turn the tables on them.
Huw