Petty holds nerve to kick Dale to victory

Stourbridge ........ 35pts Tynedale ............ 34pts

ICE cool Rod Petty held his nerve to clinch a stunning Stourbridge victory with the last kick of the match.

The seasoned scrumhalf slotted over a pressure penalty to effectively put the skids under Tynedale's promotion prospects.

It was a game that Tynedale had to win to keep within striking distance of Sedgley Park but Stour were in no mood to accommodate.

Stour director of rugby Neil Mitchell maintained: “It was a great game to watch. We showed great resilience when it mattered and I was really pleased with the way my players responded.”

Fly-half Rob Forbes fired Stour into a first minute lead with a penalty only for Tynedale to hit back when Joe Mills took advantage of a quickly taken penalty to dive over.

Stour hit back, hooker Jack Lea driving himself over as Stour surged forward from a scrum.

Tynedale were quick to respond, David Batey getting on the end of a catch and drive move to score.

Then full-back James Spencer stretched the lead to 17-10 when he managed to roll his way over.

Forbes quickly cut the deficit with his second penalty before Tynedale secured a bonus-point try.

Stour somehow contrived to lose possession on Tynedale's try-line when looking set to score and the ball was quickly recycled along Tynedale's back line where winger Aedan Maloney ran the length of the pitch to score.

Back came Stour, who seized on turnover ball for flanker Niall Gibbons to waltz over by the posts where Forbes duly converted to leave Tynedale 22-20 ahead at half-time.

The ding-dong battled continued as Stour regained the lead, going through the phases with a series of pick-and-drives before the irrepressible Petty dived over.

Stour then put their scrum domination to good use, shunting Tynedale backwards from five metres out before inside centre Hal David nipped in to take a try-scoring pass and dot down.

At 32-22, Stour looked set for a prized win.

But Tynedale silenced the crowd with two tries in quick succession.

Twice, left wing Ollie Walker appeared on the overlap to score by the posts while Rodgers, who had an indifferent afternoon with boot, could only convert once.

At 34-32, Tynedale appeared to have salvaged the game.

Matters then worsened for Stour when George Morgan was yellow carded for a high tackle. But 14man Stour refused to lie down and produced a late sustained spell of pressure before finally drawing the penalty with the last move of the match.

Amidst a silent Stourton Park, Petty placed his penalty shot perfectly.

Tynedale assistant coach Matt Fieldhouse said: “We're only thinking of the next game now. We can't worry about what other sides do, we can only effect our own games.”