Hull Ionians 50, Stourbridge 13

STOUR slumped to another heavy defeat on their travels, this time at the hands of league leaders Hull Ionians, writes Nick Pullen.

Early Ionians pressure soon took its toll on Stour when they conceded a penalty try which fly half James Ferguson duly converted.

To make matters worse, Stour had loose head prop Steve Blackburn yellow carded for good measure.

It was an uphill struggle for Stour from that point and Ionians soon increased the lead to 12-0 with a try from flanker Lawrence Cowen.

Caolan Ryan clawed a bit of the leeway back with a penalty, but an eye injury to scrum half Jacob Nash, caused further disruption to Stour's ranks.

Ionians added a third try through scrum half Adam Thomas which Ferguson converted before Ryan slotted over a second Stour penalty to make the score 19-6.

But Ionians began to cut loose before half time with further tries from right wing Steve Slingsby and hooker Alistair Thompson.

Both tries were improved upon by Ferguson to put Ionians into a commanding 33-6 lead by half time.

The second half was simply a case of damage limitation as far as Stour were concerned and they showed spirit when skipper Nigel Mukarati was driven over for a try which Ryan converted.

But by the closing stages, the pattern of play was becoming one-way traffic as Ionians ran in three more tries through left wing Sam Wilson, replacement Ben Smith, while Ferguson snapped up a try himself, which he also converted.