New year - same old woes as Stourbridge defeated at home
Stourbridge’s woes continued into the new year with a 27-12 defeat at home to Clifton as rugby resumed after the festive break.
Matthew Moseley and Jasper Smith were the try scorers for Stourbridge, who remain marooned at the bottom of National League Two West, 13 points adrift of Bournville.
In Regional One Midlands, Lichfield also stay bottom after a 34-21 defeat against rivals Nuneaton, who overtook them with this win and are now two points above them in the table. Dudley Kingswinford stay top after a 26-13 win over Stoke on Trent which saw Samuel Vaughan get a hat-trick of tries. Lichfield travel to Oundle on Saturday and DK to Bridgnorth.
Walsall maintained second place in Regional Two after a hard-fought 29-17 victory at Stratford. Walsall were soon on the attack and and good interplay between Dan Carpenter and Rob Angell eventually found Max Brown, who scored the first of what would be three tries on the day.
Will Hennessey scored the second try for Walsall before Stratford got a try and penalty to reduce the deficit but Carpenter and Brown added scores before the break for Walsall.
Ten minutes into the second half, Walsall scored a superb try when they won possession deep in their own territory and Carpenter found George Perkins, who galloped away and returned the pass allowing Carpenter his hat-trick try. The final 10 minutes of the game were a bit disappointing for Walsall who let in Stratford’s Charlie Powell to collect and score a try but they claimed the victory, albeit sustaining four injuries. Old Halesonians beat Whitchurch 27-12 to maintain top spot and Wolverhampton stay in mid-table after a 12-0 victory over Malvern. Wolverhampton are at home to Old Halesonians on Saturday.
In Counties One Midlands West (North), Stafford beat Stourbridge Lions 47-15 to move up to third place with Lions still at the bottom of the table. Lions travel to Uttoxeter on Saturday and Stafford to Tamworth for a derby game.
In Division One South, Kidderminster started the new year well with a 36-17 win over Barkers Butts which keeps them second, one point behind Berkswell & Balsall. Kidderminster will have the chance to go top on Saturday when they travel to the leaders.
The bottom side in Counties Two Midlands West (North) Aldridge were thrashed 50-22 at Handsworth, meaning the former have only one win from 13 games. Handsworth in contrast have seven and are nicely placed in fifth place. Burntwood travelled to Cleobury Mortimer and came out 22-17 winners, Burntwood travel to Handsworth on Saturday while Aldridge are at home to Harborne.
Division Three (North) action saw Rugeley beat Ludlow Seconds 33-0 with tries for Matthew Williscroft, Jordan Wood, Kevin Birt, Connor Brighton and Ashley Clark.
A derby game saw Wednesbury claim the bragging rights with a 25-10 win at neighbours Warley, while a high-scoring encounter saw Willenhall travel to North Staffs where they beat Trentham 48-31. In another derby game, Willenhall host Warley on Saturday.
Essington started the year in Division Four (North) with a 16-5 victory over St Leonards, but Bloxwich were edged out by Burton Thirds 36-40 and stay in fourth place. Bloxwich are at home to Stoke-on-Trent Seconds on Saturday while Essington travel in the other direction, to play Newcastle (Staffs) Seconds.
In the South division, Stourport travelled to county rivals Droitwich and came out on top 22-15.
