STOURBRIDGE ... 28

SEDGLEY PARK ... 32

IT was close and the home side could have won, but it would have been a travesty had Sedgley left Stourbridge without a win, as they were much the better team.

The home scrum-half Ben Harvey opened the scoring with a penalty on two minutes, but Tigers' fly-half Ryno Ueckerman levelled two minutes later.

On seven minutes breaks from Paul Arnold and Ross Bullough opened the home defence up and Dave McCormack popped up to go over for the opening try, which Ueckerman converted.

Two minutes later speedy prop Gareth Roberts broke through the home defence again and fed Kern Yates, who went over for the Tigers' second try, which again Ueckerman converted to give Sedgley a 17-3 lead after just 10 minutes. Roberts was then felled by a late tackle but the perpertrator escaped punishment.

On 17 minutes Harvey managed his second penalty for the home side, but shortly afterwards McCormack broke from the base of the scrum to set-up Willie Stockdale for Sedgley's third try.

The referee seemed intent on evening up the score by awarding the home side a plethora of penalties and from one of these a line-out on the Sedgley line was followed by a driving maul that took the Sedgley line and when the dust had settled no. 8 Julian Horrobin was credited with the try for the home side.

Stourbridge continued to play a very physical game, with one player yellow carded for punching, however, Harvey slotted over another penalty just before the half-time whistle to take the score to 22-14 to Sedgley.

When play resumed Stourbridge lay siege to the Sedgley line and the referee seemed to play his part by awarding the home side further penalties.

From another line-out Stourbridge repeated the catch and drive move of the first half and collected a second try, this time from Duncan Hughes which Harvey converted to make it a nail-biting 22-21 to Sedgley.

Park hit back and following a scrum out on the left, a flowing move the width of the pitch ended with Jim Naylor going over on the right for another try, which Ueckerman converted before adding a penalty.

But Stourbridge to their credit refused to admit defeat and from a penalty in injury time scored a superb try through right wing Jon Hall, which Harvey converted.

It was a well deserved and hard-fought win for the Tigers, missing player-coach Tim Fourie, who returned to South Africa following a family bereavement, but with a bit of luck the winning margin could have been even wider.

Deserving a special mention is the pack, under the leadership of Richard Senior, with all eight playing out of their skins, while fullback Pete Roberts was again outstanding.

The win ensured Park remain top of National League Two, with the promotion flame beginning to burn even brighter, and this Saturday Rugby Lions are the visitors to Park Lane, kick-off 2.30pm.

ONE of the finest playing surfaces in the North West was a fitting venue for the under 15's Lancashire cup match against Aldwinians.

The home team began and ended the first half with two, 10-minute spells encamped in the opposition 22 without scoring. Sandwiched in between, Aldwinians had a 10 minute spell in control at the other end.

Aldwinians began the second-half by exploiting a simple overlap which resulted in the game's first try, wide on the right which was then converted.

Then, the immaculate service of scrum-half Chris Entwistle changed to a Dawson-like dart forward to score next to the posts and Dominic Kohler couldn't miss with the resulting kick.

With the score at 12-7 to Sedgley, and with only five minutes left, Aldwinians dropped a pass in midfield which Sedgley right wing Craig Haycock pounced on, kicking the ball ahead and his lightening speed saw him win the race to claim a wonderful opportunist try, which Kohler converted to see Sedgley win this thrilling encounter 19-7.