Win helps Park build foundation for future

SEDGLEY Park put their disappointing away form to one side as they held on for victory over a Stourbridge outfit who have now suffered four successive defeats.

And for Sedgley director of rugby Steve Hazzelby, it is now all about finishing the season on a high as the club builds towards the next campaign.

An early Andrew Riley score put them on their way, but it was tries early in the second half from Johnny Matthews and Rob Birtwell that sealed the win.

“We have been quite disappointed with our away form this season, losing four or five and drawing three, so it was nice to come down here and get a result against a good Stourbridge team,” Hazzelby said.

“I thought our defence was outstanding and I thought we took our chances well. In the end, even though we had three yellow cards, I thought the spirit in the side pulled us through, so I’m absolutely delighted.

“The determination and the resolve of the players was excellent and you can’t ask for anything more than that.

“We need to try and get some momentum back and build towards the end of the season.

“Hopefully we can finish third if we keep working hard. We now need to look towards next season and do what we need to do to get promoted.”

It was Stourbridge who looked the stronger in the early minutes but mistakes throughout the game were to prove their Achilles heel.

Luke White missed a straightforward penalty after just three minutes before winger Dan Rundle was unable to gather a Liam Munro pass out wide with the line at his mercy.

The visitors responded by scoring from their first foray into the Stourbridge 22 – a slick passing move culminating in Rob Holloway sending Riley in to score.

Another glorious chance went begging for the hosts when James Otutaha knocked on in front of the posts leaving Sedgley to reach the break with their slender lead intact.

And they wrapped up the win soon after the restart. Matthews was driven over following a catch and drive with Otutaha in the sin bin before Birtwell dotted down in the opposite corner just short of the hour mark.

The visitors looked to be strolling to victory until three yellow cards in the final ten minutes threatened to derail them.

Front row pair Max Ashcroft and Matthews were first to incur the wrath of referee Daniel Collins with back row Sam Peet also seeing yellow.

Otutaha and Rod Petty clawed tries back against their depleted visitors but it was only enough to secure a losing bonus.

Stourbridge director of rugby Neil Mitchell said: “I think we had 80 per cent possession and dominated the scrum and our own line-out.

“But we also had around 30 handling errors and that’s unacceptable.”