Rugby Union: Church Stretton serve up a derby day special

Samurai started the game below Castle in the standings but produced one of their best performances of the season to win 25-0 and climb above their visitors and out of the relegation zone.

The game was switched to Bishops Castle at the last minute due to Stretton’s pitch being waterlogged, but the change of venue made little difference as Stretton took charge from the start.

Skipper Daran Chard saw an early score ruled out for a double movement but Stretton didn’t have to wait long before opening their account with hooker Niall Salisbury scoring in the right corner.

Stretton’s pressure reaped further reward when they added a second try.

Full-back Tom Ward and winger Alex Pheby returned a kick down the left wing with some strong running, before the ball was worked back inside. As Castle gathered around the ruck, Ollie Pearse spotted an overlap out wide and put the ball through the hands for Jack Titley to dive over in the corner.

Bishops Castle’s main area of profit was with the rolling maul, but Stretton showed that two could play at that game with their third try. Turning down an attempt at the posts with a penalty, they kicked for the corner and Chard crossed off the back of the resulting line-out maul for their third try.

The visitors continued to dominate after the break but it took over 20 minutes for them to claim their bonus point try when Tom Spinney burst through two tackles and sprinted clear.

The scoring was completed when Will Forbes-Lee kicked through and showed good footballing skills and pace to score.