Stourbridge Saxons in winning mood

Stourbridge will head to early front-runners Blackheath full of confidence after a rousing finale earned them victory over a dogged Launceston side.

Late tries from back row James Freeman and centre Charlie Hayter, coupled with two inch-perfect kicks from Cameron Brown lifted the Saxons to a 17-10 win at Stourton.

Director of rugby Neil Mitchell admitted: "Nobody will give us a chance at Blackheath but we've got nothing to lose.

"They are a very good side at home, but the win over Launceston will have given everyone a lift."

It had looked as though the Cornish All Blacks would be taking the points back down the M5 until the late drama secured an unlikely win against the visitors' brick wall defence.

But the Saxons chief added that there was still plenty of work to do.

He said: "I'm very pleased that we won but we made far too many mistakes, especially with the amount of possession we squandered.

"We're a very fit and fast side, so Launceston used spoiling tactics against us. It wasn't very entertaining at times, but effective.

"They don't play attractive rugby, but it's sensible and if I was the Launceston coach, I would have probably tailored the way we played to stop the opposition from playing.

"We spilt too many balls and I was disappointed with many aspects of our play, but you could say that's being hyper-critical when you've won.

"We were lacking the final thrust at times which is something an old head can give you.

"At 10-10, I would have taken it! We were seconds away from winning against Macclesfield and we produced a really good effort when we played Wharfedale.

"It's nice to see something go our way for a change."

Mitchell was full of praise for fly-half Brown and the character he showed in coming back from a poor first half kicking display to land a couple of superb conversion shots at the end of the game.

With a kick dispatched from each touchline, Mitchell believes that success will give him huge boost going into this weekend's trip to a Blackheath side with just one defeat from their opening five games.

He added: "You have to remember he's still very young.

"Last season he wasn't even getting into Loughborough University's side, so I was really pleased with the way he came back as both kicks at goal were at the extreme.

"It's a promising start."