Away win puts Bridgnorth in the mood for Stour test

The All Blacks go head-to-head with Regional One Midlands promotion hopefuls Stourbridge at the Edgar Davies Ground on Saturday.

A bumper crowd is expected for the clash as the hosts look to upset a side sitting second in the table and tipped to be in the hunt for glory at the end of the season.

“It will be a massive occasion,” said Bridgnorth coach Bryan Smallman. “It’s against one of our local rivals and they will bring loads of supporters. The place should be rocking and I think the lads have had one eye on this game.”

“It was one each last season – we beat them here and they beat us at their place. Stour are probably stronger than last year when they just missed out on promotion and it should be a great day.”

And the All Blacks will go into the clash on a high following an impressive 43-24 success at Nuneaton last weekend.

Having been on the receiving end of three narrow defeats so far this term, Bridgnorth turned on the style to secure their second win of the season at a venue that hasn’t been a happy hunting ground in the past.

“We looked at Nuneaton’s results so far and saw that they score a lot of points,” added Smallman. “We said we can’t be hard on ourselves if they execute something perfectly and that we had to stay composed.

“They scored early on, but we hit back with two tries and that seemed to settle us down and we started to play with more freedom and added another couple before half-time.

“We were really pleased with the execution, we scored some excellent tries. Hopefully the boys will have gained a lot of confidence from that result. “It was a good squad performance, the bench came on in the second half and made an impact.Our skipper Jonah Boyce told the boys after the game, ‘that’s your marker, that’s what you are capable of and what we expect, and he is right.”

After conceding an early converted try, Bridgnorth sparked into life and had secured a four-try bonus points by the half-hour mark.

Boyce touched down first, followed by back row Charlie Wright before Jordan Burgess scampered over in the corner. Elliot Murphy successfully converted the first two tries.

An interception by Connor Nichols from halfway saw him just outpace the Nuneaton full-back to the line. A long-range conversion by Murphy made the score 26-7 at half-time

Bridgnorth conceded two tries early in the second half, but then rallied and added three more tries in the space of 20 minutes through Huw Taylor, George Newman and Boyce, Murphy adding one conversion.

Nuneaton rounded off the scoring late on with a converted try.

In-from Ludlow will be aiming to crank up the pressure at the top of Regional Two Midlands West this weekend.

The Linney men are sitting fourth in the standings as they prepare to welcome bottom-of-the-table Hereford on Saturday.

And they will go into the clash on the back of an impressive 18-15 success at previously unbeaten Edwardians last weekend.

Tries from Sam Brooks and Jack Small, plus one conversion and two penalties from Jack Lines sealed the deal and maintained Ludlow’s impressive start to the season.

Head coach Tom Tench admitted the victory was not ‘the prettiest’ but was delighted with the character and resilience his side showed against a team unbeaten in 24 games on home soil.

“Another good win and a really tough game,” said Tench. “It wasn’t the prettiest, but the boys stuck at it and managed to get the win.

“We were 12 up early on, but then took our foot off the gas and probably thought it was going to be easier than it was.

“We let them back into the game, and they had some good individuals and are a well-coached team, and we could have lost the game towards the end, but the lads dug deep.

“It was pleasing, but there is lots to improve on because we were not at the standard we had set the previous couple of weeks.

Tench also believes his side’s fine start to the season will make other teams sit up and start to take notice.

“We will start getting a target on our backs. That’s a challenge for the players and we have to make sure we stick to the standards we have set. There are learnings from each game and we have to keep progressing and get better as a squad.”

A good weekend for the club was capped by their second team winning a friendly encounter against Clee Hill seconds.

“We put two teams out at the weekend on the road and they both won,” said Tench.

“It’s a first time the club have put two sides out for a while and shows the increased squad strength.”

Whitchurch picked up their second success of the season thanks to a 17-12 triumph at home to Ledbury.