Stourbridge Lions backed to take step up

The Lions, who clinched the Midlands 2 West North title last campaign, ran out 21-18 victors over Melbourne at Stourton Park on Saturday, writes Joe Edwards.

“It is small margins in this league, we worked hard on Saturday and won by three,” said Tibbetts.

“The week before we lost by three (to Lutterworth) and just one the week before that (to Hereford).

“The level is certainly a lot better than what we experienced last season in Midlands Two West North.

“We have strengthened in some areas, but stuck with the majority of the squad from last year.

“We have got a few players coming back from injury now too, which helps.

“I am pretty happy with how we have started the season to be honest.

“We have been more than competitive in every game so far and I think that we’ll be alright.”

The Lions took the lead early with an unconverted try by Ben Trinham.

By 20 minutes, however, Melbourne were ahead with a penalty followed by a try down the home side’s left.

A further penalty gave the away side an 11-5 advantage but the last 10 minutes of the half belonged to the hosts, with a Tom Mitchell penalty followed by a fine solo try by Fred Brookes, Mitchell converting, to lead by four at half-time.

The second half was tense throughout with periods of huge pressure from both sides.

Another penalty from Mitchell made it 18-11 to the Lions, but back came Melbourne with a converted try.

With the scores level, it was nip and tuck. Mitchell then converted another penalty and the defence superbly held on for the win.

They head to Moseley Oak on Saturday, and Tibbetts added: “We are certainly targeting the home games at the moment, but we will be giving it our all at Moseley to try get something from it.

“It will be tough but we are looking forward to the game.”

Wolverhampton also claimed their first triumph of the campaign, beating Hereford 21-18.

They are now 13th out of 14 teams after four games, and go to Lutterworth this weekend.

Conversely, Dudley Kingswinford suffered their first loss this term, being downed 43-36 at Bromsgrove.

The match contained 10 tries and the lead changed hands four times, with the vital score coming from an interception.

DK’s highlights were the two second-half tries for Luke Trevis, who started on the bench and came on for Ben Brown just before half-time.

They tries were almost carbon copies of each other – having very little room to work with, but diving over in the corner.

The first half saw DK score two tries, the first from Mitch Grealey under the posts.

Young Callum Nichols found himself in the row from the start after Dan Marsh failed to recover from injury in time, and he was on hand to score a good try.

DK had moved the ball deep in the Bromsgrove half and had stretched their defence from side to side, then Nichols found himself on the left touchline to burst through for his first try for the first team.

Sam Vaughan was in the groove with his kicking and DK were 14-8 in front at the break.

DK scored a further try early in the second half when Ricky Bennett, who had come on at half-time, made a barnstorming run through the heart of the Bromsgrove defence and attracted defenders to try to stop him.

He recycled the ball to Jordan Brookes, who, with a lot still to do, barged towards the line and his outstretched arm was long enough to cross over.

Bromsgrove also scored five tries in the second half, though, with an interception in the dying stages leading to the decisive one.

The coaching team will be sure to look closely at several aspects of the display in readiness for another tough game at home against Burton, who have won three and lost one so far – the same record as DK.