Birmingham and Solihull 23, Stourbridge 25

STOUR scraped a slender success at local rivals Bees - but the victory came at a price, writes Nick Pullen.

Serious injuries to giant second row Robbie Hurrell and England Counties tight head prop Mark George only piled on the problems for Director of Rugby Neil Mitchell.

He is faced with an injury list of epidemic proportions, plus the prospect of losing impressive full back Caolan Ryan, whose loan spell from Moseley is soon set to expire.

With a particularly tough run of fixtures leading up to Christmas, Mitchell couldn't hide his concern.

The injuries took some of the gloss off what was an extremely hard fought win.

Stour were particularly impressive in the first half, playing some of their best rugby this season.

Ryan kicked them in front with an early penalty before Bees fly half Adam Canning responded with two penalties of his own.

But Stour rachetted up the tempo during the second quarter and plundered two well fashioned tries.

Sione Tuipulotu, who was a constant threat at inside centre, got himself on the back of a driving maul as Stour went over for a try on 24 minutes.

Three minutes later, Stour's large band of travelling support were treated to the sight of Robbie Hurrell displaying a stunning burst of pace as the big man powered his way over in the corner.

Ryan converted both tries to put Stour 17-6 ahead.

Canning threw Bees a lifeline by landing his third penalty with the last kick of the first half.

Bees proved much more threatening after the break.

Canning wriggled his way past several flimsey tackles to secure a try on 48 minutes which he duly converted himself.

But Stour were back in the driving seat when Nigel Mukarati added a third try, going over to score from his trademark catch and drive following a line out.

The alarm bells began ringing when Bees regained the lead on 70 minutes, flanker Ashley Scriven credited with the vital touch following a driving maul which shoved Stour back behind their own line.

Canning converted to make the score 23-22 - yet Stour instantly snatched the lead back with another Ryan penalty.

That was followed by a lengthy delay before Mark George was stretchered off - then it became a case of Stour hanging on.

They had to ride their luck twice in the closing moments when the usually accurate Canning was presented with two penalty attempts after Stour were penalised in the scrum.

Both shots just missed the target and Stour could celebrate a much welcome win.

Stour: Ryan; Bressington, Shillingford, Tuipulotu, Cooksammy; Dipple, Nash; Blackburn, Garner, George; Hughes, Hurrell; Mukarati, Uzoigwe, Harper. Replacements: Brown, Moore, Depper, Sturdy, Cullen.