NEIL Mitchell has targeted a top four finish for Stourbridge after meeting with the club's senior players.

The director of rugby at Stourton Park says he wants everyone to re-focus in the new year and work towards a new goal.

The first half of the season has been a frustrating time for Stour, blighted by on-going injury troubles.

"After a meeting with my senior players, we have decided that we should all re-focus and go again after the Christmas period," added Mitchell.

"We will hopefully be able to bring in a few new faces and really push on from there.

"When we have a settled side we are more than capable of taking on anyone in this league. There is no reason why we can't make it into the top four with a good second half to the season."

A patched up Stourbridge side slipped to another heavy defeat on their travels when losing 50-13 to league leaders Hull Ionians last Saturday.

Early Ionians pressure soon took its toll 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 from that point and Ionians soon increased the lead to 12-0 with a try from flanker Lawrence Cowen.

On-loan 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.

"The game was one of the lowest points," added Mitchell. "We had to make too many changes and we too disjointed because of it."

However, Stour are set to have key men back for this Saturday's home game against Chester.

Tom Jarvis, Stefan Cooksammy, Sione Tuipulotu, Nathan Bressington and Robbie Hurrell could all feature.

One again, Mitchell will be waiting on a late decision from Moseley about the availability of full-back Caolan Ryan.