Sat 18 Jan 2025
Bridgnorth travelled to play Stourbridge after having a week off due to a frozen pitch at the EDG. Nerys Arch had done a first-rate job of rallying the Bridgnorth supporters to have lunch at Stourton Park and the home club did not disappoint with a fine meal well hosted by Richard, Miles and Alf. Bridgnorth were missing a few regular players but the squad still had a solid look to it as they aimed to bounce back from their defeat at Syston. Stourbridge applied the early pressure and kicked a penalty to take the lead. Bridgnorth competed at the restart and regathered the ball, the returning Jordan Burgess then made an amazing break demonstrating his power and pace to take the ball into the opposition twenty-two, good hands by Morgan French moved the ball to James Barham who crossed for the opening try (unconverted.)
The away side then scored again after Gareth Bladen took a quick tap penalty and Jack Cole put in a good break to take the ball on, the phase was disrupted as the ball went to ground but it was kicked over the try line and Ed Taylor dropped on the ball for Bridgnorth’s second try. Stourbridge again hit straight back with a three-point penalty to make the score 6-10. Bridgnorth’s scrum had been coming under pressure in the opening quarter and the overall pressure was starting to tell as the Stourbridge backs also threatened more and a knock-on denied them their opening try. Joe Cave was brought on for Jacob Tomkinson as the away side shuffled the front row. The next scrum was more stable but the Stourbridge fly-half made the pressure tell as he crossed for a converted try.
Bridgnorth were increasingly on the defensive as the momentum against them built and when Stourbridge kicked ahead, the away defence were unable to deal with the bounce off the artificial surface and the home side regathered to press towards the try line, a knock-on again stopped them scoring. Regrettably, the ball was ‘lost against the head’ at the following scrum and the Stourbridge centre broke through the defence to score a converted try. Things went from bad to worse at the next phase as the Bridgnorth full-back failed to find touch with his clearance when that would have relieved some pressure, the ball was passed to the Stourbridge full-back, and with some excellent elusive running, he scored a brilliant solo try from around the halfway line for the home side’s third converted try. The referee blew for half-time with the scoreboard reading 27-10 and both sides going back into the clubhouse to regroup.
The second-half started well for Bridgnorth with Jordan Burgess making another devastating break but Stourbridge were able to clear. The penalty count continued to rise against the away side particularly for high tackles and, as the home side moved forwards again, an excellent jackal tackle by Joe Cave stopped that attack. Again, Bridgnorth were their own worst enemy as they failed to find touch with the penalty kick and after further penalties, Stourbridge scored their fourth converted try as the right-winger looped around from the blind-side and took a pop pass off his fly-half to score. Bridgnorth were then able to put some phases together and after good play, Elliot Murphy powered over the whitewash and converted his own try. The away side attacked again from the restart and Murphy put in what looked like a good territorial kick but unluckily, the ball kept rolling along the plastic pitch and Stourbridge had a scrum-back in the middle of the Bridgnorth half. After another high-tackle penalty, Stourbridge had an attacking five-metre lineout and as the forwards sucked in the defenders the ball came to the right winger who rounded his man to score the home side’s fifth converted try.
Bridgnorth kept playing rugby after this as they looked for the consolation of a four try bonus point, however they couldn’t produce the consistency of attack that was required to break through the fired-up Stourbridge defence and either forward passes or perhaps unnecessary miss-passes to the wing stopped their progress. Jack Cole made another good break but became isolated and was penalised for holding on. Benji Ritson and Patrick Smallman were introduced into the backs and the ball was well transferred to Ollie Neill who showed real pace to make good ground, Manasa Volaikisuva secured the ball at the breakdown but as the ball was recycled, the Stourbridge scrum-half who was loitering with intent, intercepted the ball and scooted away to score the home side’s sixth converted try.
Bridgnorth’s difficult afternoon at the scrum continued as the referee either awarded penalties or free kicks to the home side, particularly on captain Jonah Boyce’s side of the scrum. Stourbridge went forwards again and with their confidence high, the fly-half put in an attacking cross-field kick but it was knocked on. The game ended in a disappointing fashion for the away side as the ball came to the Stourbridge backs and some missed tackles allowed their player to score the final try. The home kicker kept up his 100% success rate with his seventh conversion and he finished the game with 20 points from the tee. The final score was 55-17.
This was a difficult afternoon for an injury disrupted Bridgnorth side and Stourbridge took full home advantage to inflict a heavy defeat on their local rivals. Bridgnorth now have a week off before playing the league’s bottom two sides, Kenilworth at home on the 1st February and Derby away on the 8th February. The squad and coaches will undoubtedly work together to return to winning ways. The Bulls have a home game against Longton this Saturday 25th January, before touch-judge Bean Ellis has his 60th birthday party.
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