Stourbridge stuck at the bottom after fresh defeat in Devon

A much-improved performance did deliver a first point of the campaign but was not enough to prevent Neil Mitchell’s men falling to a fourth defeat in four matches.

Stour were quick out of the blocks in Devon, taking the lead inside six minutes when full-back Tim Bitirim went over in the corner, Michael Heaney converting.

Though the students hit back through Ronan Kelly’s converted try, it was Stour who then regained the lead through Michael Moseley.

Seven minutes either side of half-time proved crucial. Exeter scored three tries, including two from Orson James, to establish an advantage Stour could never quite overhaul.

They gave it a good go, Dallas Ororo scoring their third try of the afternoon, with Moseley then bagging his second to secure a bonus point after Kelly had gone over for the hosts.

But with five minutes to go and the students still not quite home and hosed, the elastic finally snapped, Josh Cunningham crossing and Ed Thomas then rubbing further salt into Stour’s wounds to leave a final score not particularly reflective of the game.

Dudley Kingswinford made it three wins on the spin in Regional One Midlands with a 45-0 thumping of Oundle.

Backed by more than 350 supporters at Heathbrook, the hosts ran in six tries, including four inside the opening half-hour to secure the bonus point and effectively end the match as a contest.

“New recruits have definitely helped us in the backs and I think with the forward, we are starting to bully other teams,” said skipper Ben Rhodes, with DK now sitting third in the early season table.

Lichfield are eighth, after a 51-14 defeat at home to leaders Syston.

Wolverhampton fell to a second straight defeat in Regional Two Midlands as they were beaten 29-3 away at early season pacesetters Ludlow. They sit fourth in the table, two places above Walsall, who lost a tight contest 10-5 at Old Halesonians.

The hosts went ahead through Phil Leader’s try and got what proved to be the winning score just before the break, when John Friths dotted down after a strong forward drive.

Walsall made them work for it in the second period, Ben Pitt intercepting a pass and racing 70 yards to score and halve the deficit. The visitors thought they had pulled level when Pete Fitzgerald appeared to touch down but the referee failed to see the grounding and Old Hales’ strong defensive stand under their own posts in the closing minutes proved just enough for victory.

Stafford made it four wins from four in Counties One Midlands West with a comfortable 32-8 home victory over Uttoxeter.

Brett Corcoran scored early in both halves for the hosts, with Alex Rock, Ben Dodd and Jerry Qasenivala also going over in a dominant team display.

Stafford sit just a point behind leaders Luctonian Twos and will be big favourites to continue their strong start when they visit bottom-of-the-table Stourbridge Lions this weekend.

The Lions are yet to pick up a point and were comprehensively beaten 39-7 at Shrewsbury.

In Counties Two Midlands West, Burntwood drew for the second time in as many weekends as they played out a thriller at Clee Hill.

The match finished with the scores level 31-31 and the visitors, held at Veseyans the previous Saturday, now sit eighth in what is shaping up to be a competitive division. Aldridge are bottom of the pile and still searching for their first point after a 40-12 defeat at Cleobury Mortimer.

Willenhall are fourth in Counties Three after a 47-15 win over Rugeley, while Warley are off the mark – albeit in somewhat hollow fashion – after being awarded a home walkover against Yardley & District. Wednesbury went down 68-8 at leaders Trentham, with Cannock also finding third-placed Barton-under-Needwood too strong as they fell to a 54-23 home defeat.

Essington sit second in Counties Four after they received a walkover when Longton seconds were unable to field a team.