They had to live off scraps of possession as Stourbridge dominated both the scrums and the line-outs. The most positive thing of the half was No8, Willem Enslin’s control of the ball behind a retreating scrum. All this changed after the interval as Harrogate took control of the set pieces and combined with their talented backs to actually win the half. Persistent rain led to the pitch conditions deteriorating badly as the game went on and both sides deserve credit for producing such a high quality match in these circumstances.

Sustained early Stourbridge pressure ended with Harrogate going offside and Rod Petty’s penalty put the hosts 3-0 ahead. This was shortly followed by a “hands in the ruck” offence and a second Petty penalty goal. The pressure continued, a Stourbridge penalty led to an attacking line-out and scrum-half, Toby Handley darted through a gap for a converted try.

Harrogate’s scrum-half, Phil Wickham used his limited possession well to challenge the home defence with his breaks and, when Stourbridge went offside in defence, Lewis Minikin’s penalty opened Harrogate’s account. However, they then knocked on the restart kick and the Stourbridge pressure continued. A Tom Harvey yellow card led to Stourbridge opting for scrums at a succession of penalties and the ball was eventually spread quickly for Josh Trinham to score.

As the half drew to a close, a crunching Steve Maycock tackle ended another Stourbridge attack. This was followed by a petulant blow to the back of his head which Maycock didn’t seem to notice. More importantly, the referee didn’t see it either and the offence was unpunished.

It looked like being more of the same at the start of the second half as the Stourbridge pack drove on from an attacking line-out and centre, Ransford Otutaha crashed over to score what turned out to be their final points. Harrogate’s forwards took control for the rest of the match with powerful runs from the Brady brothers consistently breaking through the home defence. Half backs Wickham and Callum Irvine used the ball well to bring Harrogate’s talented backs more into play.

One of the many mysterious penalties awarded against Harrogate led to an attacking Stourbridge line-out but Jake Brady stole the ball to set up more Harrogate attacks. Harvey, who’d now returned to the field, ran strongly and defended well for the rest of the match. The referee, unfortunately, failed to play advantage when Harrogate had an overlap after foul play from Stourbridge’s Connor Nicholls. He was duly despatched to the sin bin and Harrogate continued to mount attacks.

A quickly taken Wickham penalty led to sustained pressure on the Stourbridge line but the ball was turned over and cleared. However, Harrogate weren’t to be denied and more attacks followed from a Sam Brady line-out “steal”. Irvine made a half break which was well supported by tight forwards Ben Reaveley and Charlie Purkiss-McEndoo. The ball was recycled to Irvine whose run resulted in a Stourbridge offside offence. Another quickly taken Wickham penalty created a gap for Luke Edwards to sprint clear for a 30 metres converted try.

This was the final score of the match but it was far from the end of the excitement. Both teams continued to play excellent attacking rugby in appalling conditions. It was a tremendous advertisement for Level 4 rugby.

Stourbridge: Bridger, Elvers, Heatley, Otutaha, Trinham, Petty, Handley, Thorp, Wilkes, George, Depper, Hurrell, Mukarati, Carpenter, Rodley. Subs:- Sturdy, Nicholls, Harding, Roddy, Scott.

Harrogate: Minikin, Bottomley, Lansdall, Frost, Edwards, Irvine, Wickham, Purkiss-McEndoo, Maycock, Ward, J Brady, S Brady, Harvey, J Coser, Enslin. Subs:- Larder, Reaveley, Nawanazia, Parrish, G Coser

Referee: Will Halford (RFU)

Match report by Bill Barrack.