Regional Midlands One

Newent RFC 34 Stourbridge RFC 7

THE Green Army claimed another big scalp with Sam Goatley rating the defensive performance against Stourbridge as the best in his time as head coach, writes SIMON BARKER.

Fin Mellis started on the left wing, with Adrian Connelly on the bench, while there was a first appearance of the season for Dylan Leney at scrum-half.

Leo Oakey moved to No 8 and Jim Hartland to openside, with Ben Brown making his debut at blindside, while Joe Warner made his home debut at outside centre, and Will Hartland captained from inside centre.

Jack Devries was injured off after just five minutes making a trademark carry, to be replaced by James Marshall.

A penalty then gave Tom Webb the chance to kick to the corner, but the ball was nudged forward in the maul and the hosts penalised at the scrum, the one area where Stourbridge enjoyed a clear advantage.

This turned out to be Newent’s only entry into the opposition 22 of the first half, as Stourbridge had the better of territory and possession, but could not breach the defence.

The game was nearly half-an-hour old before the deadlock was broken, James Marshall winning a turnover in midfield to give Newent the chance to counter-attack in space, but Webb’s pass deliberately knocked on .

Webb opted to go for goal from halfway and bisected the posts to put Newent ahead 3-0.

Stourbridge had an opportunity to hit back almost immediately, after Newent were penalised for collapsing a scum in their 22, but the kick faded across the face.

And in stoppage time another scrum penalty against the hosts, saw another kick go narrowly wide.

After the break, Newent seized the initiative with a fine try after secure scrum ball saw them launch a multi-phased attack.

Webb and Joe Warner made incisive breaks before Webb looped round to take a return pass and finish wide on the right, before converting his try from the touchline (10-0).

But when hooker Tom Woodman was shown a yellow card after Newent were penalised at a scrum, the visitors opted to take scrums from a series of penalties.

And a push-over from 5m out made it 10-7 going into the final quarter.

From the restart Webb was caught late, earning a yellow card for Stourbridge’s No 8 and giving the hosts a penalty in the opposition 22.

Webb’s perfectly weighted cross-kick to the right-hand corner then saw Doug Long go over without breaking stride, the kicker converting from the touchline for 17-7.

A clearance from the restart was then drilled into the Stourbridge 22, where mobile loose-head Garrett Myers peeled off the back of the maul to crash over (22-7).

Newent were next caught offside but stole the line-out and Ben Brown carried hard to relieve the pressure.

And a turnover on halfway allowed a scything break from Joe Warner, who carried into the 22 before finding Will Hartland for Newent’s bonus-point try.

The restart kick was then knocked on, but Newent won the ball back and Dylan Leney kicked long.

And Joe Warner was up quickly to charge down the clearance and score, which Webb converted for a 34-7 win, with Dudley Kingswinford next at home this Saturday (November 29).

Ross RFC lost 31-19 at home to Cheltenham Civil Service, and visit Longlevens this weekend.