Sat 23 Nov 2019, 14:30
It may have been a gloomy, damp, squelchy afternoon but in line with the town's rebranding as a holiday destination, Stourport provide a rollercoaster of an afternoon entertaining the crowds and inducing a few cardiac scares as the see saw game reached a gripping finale.
The start of the game however did not give any hints as to what was to follow, early possession from Redditch saw them claim the territory and push the home side backwards. A straightforward scrum win sent the ball spinning along the backs, Tom Saddington saw a gap and took it cleanly for a straightforward try, a kickable conversion was missed.
With their heads up and confidence soaring Redditch soaked up the fightback from Stourport, regained the ball and steadily made their way back up the pitch. A cleanly taken lineout gave the opportunity to use the back line again, this time Harvey Habgood timed his pass finely to give Will Spires a clear run to the line, another kickable conversion was wasted
A third try followed soon after, Tom Saddington, making himself active in midfield picked up a stray ball and sprinted from the half way to score unopposed, but yet again the conversion opportunity was spurned. However Tom Saddington did step up to slot over a penalty kick.
Stourport were by now getting desperate to stem the flow of tries, but the more they tried to move the ball around the more mistakes they made. frustration was setting in and Redditch were getting ready for the kill. A spell of ping pong possession resulted with R attacking once more, Jack Bacciocchi and Matt Allen combined in midfield with storming drives, the ball was fed to Jack Mertens who finished the move under the posts, this time Tom Saddington added the extras to give Redditch a bonus point within half an hour and a 0-25 lead.
It was around this point that the hosts woke up, their handling improved, their invention caused problems and sheer determination earned them points. A penalty went their way close to the Redditch line, Stourport charged, twice, and were rewarded. Their conversion was not wasted and so a little respectability was brought to their scoreline, and a lot of confidence.
At half time Stourport made a few changes that were to prove crucial, it was almost as if a new team took the pitch for the restart, they certainly had more purpose about them and showed they meant business with a quick try, the newly introduced centre cutting a killer line through the Redditch defensive for a seven point try and 14-25 on the scoreboard.
It wasn't long before Stourport used their scrum to better effect, used the blind side and scored a third, another touchline conversion made it a 4 point game and emphasised the importance of taking your points when they were on offer.
Now the roles were reversed, Stourport had their heads up and were playing much better rugby, Redditch were scratching around for fluency. Injury to scrumhalf James Mills meant changes all round. Will Heath moved in from 10 to 9, Spires from 14 to 10 and Connor Morris came from second team pitch to hit the game running on the wing.
His first action was to bring down the ball catcher from the restart, the impact and impetus seemed to remind Redditch they still had a job to do and needed to get their acts together quickly. A series of drives with the whole pack taking part was rewarded when hooker Loran Abbotts saw a gap no one else did and dived to ground the ball on the line, the ref hesitated but awarded the try, Tom Saddington slotted the points over and R settled in to a more comfortable lead.
Stourport had other ideas, their pack upped their game a little more, Redditch strayed over the offside line too often and suddenly Redditch were back behind their line watching another conversion sail over the bar having been driven back by a rampant Stourport pack.
The ref had signalled 5 minutes to go, Redditch had cleared their lines well, their defense was resolute and determined to hold on. Tom Saddington had broken clear but was tackled late after a down field kick yet the penalty was awarded from where he kicked it. Redditch bundled a threatening attack into touch yet Stourport had the put in. The decisions were not going their way and the clock should have gone red by now, but still Stourport piled on the pressure. Connor Morris again made a crucial tackle as did Man of the Match Clarke Parker.
Yet Stourport upped the intensity, determined to take the spoils. Attacking scrum after attacking scrum within sight of the Redditch line were thwarted, eventually the ball came free from the set piece, with a last ditch drive to the tryline the Stourport attacker awas unceremoniously bundled into touch and the game was won.
The celebrations were joyous, the relief palpable, the five points gratefully taken but R need to ask themselves how did they let such a commanding lead become a nail biting finish.
Next weekend they travel to Keresley for the re-arranged match postponed when the rains came earlier in the month.
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