Halifax hammered

10:08am Thursday 6th March 2008

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Halifax 10, Stourbridge 34.

Stourbridge duly disposed of bottom of the table Halifax at Ovenden Park on Saturday with a superb effort by their pack, which proved far too strong for the beleaguered Yorkshiremen. The win however came at a cost as fly-half Dan Lavery was taken to hospital with a suspected broken jaw - a major set back bearing in mind the serious injury incurred by Sam Robinson the previous week.

Stour had rung the changes in the back-line with Danny Pointon, Lavery and Scott Morris starting for the injured Tom Richardson, Robinson and Mark Eastwood.

Jim Jenner was also missing and was replaced by Duncan White who turned in a man of the match performance at the back of the scrum. There were welcome returns for Ben Gerry and Ben Hughes in the pack.

It was a typical Yorkshire day - a stiff crosswind and a very sticky pitch - but for once Stourbridge had the ideal side for the conditions - a totally dominant pack which by the end of the game seemed to be pushing Halifax back at will.

White had a superb afternoon, touching down for Stour's first and fourth tries, the latter of which secured the bonus point. The first of White's tries came in the eighth minute when he got over in a five-metre line-out catch and drive which was to become a typical feature of the afternoon. Ally Bressington converted but Halifax equalised after 14 minutes with a similar try by lock Richard Brown, converted by Joe Knowles.

Lavery went off after half an hour and was replaced by utility back Rod Petty - an ideal replacement in the conditions with 10-man rugby very much being the order of the day - the conditions were never suited to an expansive game.

Stour's interval lead was extended to 15-8 when lock Ben Hughes scored the only running try of the afternoon.

Although Bressington narrowly missed the conversion he soon added a penalty to extend the lead.

The second half was one-way traffic with Halifax having no answer to Stourbridge's rolling mauls and dominance in the scrums and line-outs. Eight minutes into the half hooker Gerry increased the lead with a try from another rolling maul, converted by Bressington. Although Halifax replied with a Knowles penalty Stour soon secured the fourth try- and a welcome bonus point- when White went over for his second - from a rolling maul.

The icing was put on the cake in injury time when Stour mauled from a full 20-yards out and substitute Scott Witcomb was credited with the touch down. Quite simply it showed how dramatically Stourbridge have improved in this area.

Stourbridge: Hall, Bressington, Billig, Morris, Freeman, Lavery (Petty), Pointon, Rowlands, Gerry, Tideswell (Olver), Hughes (Homer), Muldowney, Knight (Witcomb), Jordan, White.