Stourbridge RFC director of rugby admits blame after defeat by Barking
STOURBRIDGE director of rugby Neil Mitchell held his hands up after his side had been turned over by National League One leaders Barking and admitted it would have been a travesty if the visitors had not taken all the points.
But he insisted the score did not reflect the match.
“They certainly deserved to win but I think 18-10 or so would have been a much fairer result,” he said.
Mitchell was pleased with the performance from his side.
“It might not look it from the score but I was pleased with the defence,” he added.
They were caught out, though, with three tries coming from kicks behind the defence.
“You can’t counter speed and pace with a wipe kick, it is as simple as that,” said Mitchell.
After a fairly even first half, Barking led 7-3 with second-row Ben Thomas driven over and full-back Adam Armstrong adding the extras to cancel Stour winger Ali Bressington’s opening penalty.
The visitors took control after the break though.
Fly-half Harry Owens put a kick into the corner for flying winger Nick Fraser to go over.
And things got worse for Stour when the referee awarded a penalty try for pulling down the scrum on the blind side after just one warning.
The Owens-Fraser kick-and-chase combination worked again for a bonus-point try, then winger David Vincent went over for a fifth with Armstrong landing three more conversions for a 30-point lead, but Stour had the final word with Charlie Hayter grabbing a consolation try.
Defeat brought added problems for Stour though.
Mitchell said: “We lost Ben Hughes (skipper and second row) with a bang to the head and it looks as if Will Davis has popped a rib, which means both loose-head props out (Adam Sturdy is already injured), which could be a problem.”
