Stourbridge win at Caldy to go second

Two tries in the first 11 minutes was enough for Stourbridge to clinch victory over Caldy as they climbed to second in the National Two North table.

Joseph Heatley scored the opening try after seven minutes before Joshua Trinham produced two outrageous side-steps before touching down to give the visitors an early 0-12 lead.

Derek Salisbury pulled Caldy back into the contest midway through the half as he barged his way over from close range as the hosts started to gain control in the clash.

But the Stourbridge defence was rarely threatened after the break as penalties from Thomas Mitchell and Gavin Roberts were the only scores in the second period as Stour came away with the points.

Stour are now second in the table, for the next couple of hours at least, as they moved four points clear of Sedgley Park who play tonight against Tynedale. As for Caldy, a losing bonus points now leaves them seven points behind Stourbridge and ends their three game winning run.

Stour got the game's first try through Heatley after the ball travelled quickly through the hands of Rodney Petty, Mitchell and Trinham before being flicked on to the centre who dived over in the left corner.

Smart work from Heatley allowed Stour to score their second try just four minutes later as he found Trinham who produced some magic footwork to evade the Caldy defence as he crossed to put the Midlands side in control.

They fully deserved to have that advantage after 20 minutes as they were dominating every aspect of the game with Chris Roddy along with his fellow forwards excellent at the line-out as well as breakdown for the visitors.

But has the half grew old, Caldy grew stronger and looked much more assured of themselves and after two successive penalties, Salisbury smashed his way over from a rolling maul to catapult the Wirral side right back into the contest.

The score was 7-12 at half-time and the hosts were hoping to begin the second period in the same way they ended the first, but Stour nullified Caldy extremely well.

They controlled possession for the first 20 minutes and added to their lead when Mitchell landed a penalty as Caldy were penalised for not rolling away.

But as with the first 40, Caldy sparked into life midway through the half as they put pressure on the Stourbridge try line.

They eventually reduced the gap back down to five points as Roberts nudged a penalty over on 68 minutes after Stour’s scrum-half Tobias Handley was sin-binned and as we entered the final stages of this contest, Caldy were in the ascendency.

With the extra man, the home side were trying to fashion chances but they just couldn’t dent the pink wall in front of them as the away side saw the game out to seal a third win in a row. 

National Two North

Away from the top four in National Two North, the Luctonians picked up a vital win in their fight for survival as they kicked off their 2016 with an 11-10 victory over Leicester Lions at Mortimer Park.

Otley ended a sequence of one win in five matches with a solid 20-10 win over a Huddersfield side that are still yet to win on the road this season while Broadstreet added to ‘Field’s misery as they secured their fifth triumph of the campaign after beating Sale FC meaning in the Yorkshire are now bottom of the division.

Elsewhere, Harrogate are back into the top half of the table after a 17-35 win over Sandal and Chester made it back to back wins to start the new year as they beat South Leicester 3-20 at Welford Road.

Table toppers Macclesfield’s game away at Preston Grasshoppers was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. The match has been rescheduled for March 12^th.

National Two South

League leaders Old Albanian made no mistake as they remain top of National Two South tonight after thrashing Southend Saxons 62-10 to maintain their 100 per cent home record for the season. Second placed Cambridge remain five points behind the Old Albanian as they edged out Chinnor 19-26 away from home.

Bishops Stortford are still hot on the heels of Cambridge after they ran in seven tries on their way to a 41-10 victory over Dorking while Redruth stay fifth after a professional 22-6 win over Bury St Edmunds.

Elsewhere in the top half, Clifton’s bad run of results continued as they were beaten 16-20 by the Old Elthamians who moved above the South Gloucestershire side with this win while Barnes were held to a 24-24 draw by Worthing Raiders.

And down at the bottom in a crucial relegation battle, Canterbury came out on top after beating the Redingensians 27-23 to move out of the drop zone by a point.

Taunton Titans v Launceston was postponed and has been rescheduled for March 12^th.