Stourbridge 17, Sedgley Park 17

STOUR supporters breathed a sigh of relief after Neil Mitchell's men managed to secure a draw with fifth placed Sedgley Park, writes Nick Pullen.

Drew Harper got the decisive touch as Stour produced a late pushover try following a sustained spell of pressure on Park's line.

But they still had to hold their nerve as full back Coalan Ryan, who has returned to Stour on loan from Moseley, managed to slot over a tricky conversion kick.

Then one final play was prolonged way past the 80 minute mark as Park pressed hard for a winning score by trying to create a drop goal situation. Thankfully the move broke down - much to Stour's delight.

For the first half hour, the match produced a stalemate situation as both sides probed opposing defences.

The deadlock was broken thanks to a moment's lack of concentration by Park when they failed to respond quickly enough to Stefan Cooksammy's subtle kick ahead and alert Stefan Shillingford reacted first, winning the race to touchdown for Ryan to convert.

Back came Sedgley Park, but this time with more conviction.

They camped on Stour's line and finally capitalised on the stroke of half time when second row Juan Crous forced his way over from a quickly taken tap penalty move and fly half Steve Collins slotted over the conversion.

Level pegging at half time, Park were quickly out of the blocks on resumption and within three minutes, their right wing Andrew Riley waltzed past several half hearted tackles to score by the posts.

Collins had no problems converting to put Park 14-7 ahead.

Stour went back on the attack and their prospects soon improved when Park had replacement forward George Hymes yellow carded on 51 minutes.

But inspite of the numerical advantage, all Stour had to show for the 10 minutes in charge was a solitary Ryan penalty.

Collins responded with a penalty for Park on 63 minutes and from that point, Stour were charged with trying to save the game.

They applied constant pressure and would have secured a try, but scrum half Jacob Nash knocked on just as Drew Harper looked set to go over.

But Stour wouldn't be denied and seized the draw they probably deserved with a 78th minute pushover try.

Stour: Ryan; Bressington, Shillingford, Barkley, Cooksammy; Dipple, Nash; Sturdy, Dale Garner, Kyle Garner; Hughes, Moore; Mukarati, Uzoigwe, Depper. Replacements: Higgins, Hurrell, Page, Harper, George.

Sedgley Park: Leader; Andrew Riley, Wainwright, Matthew Riley, Strong; Collins, McShane; Ashcroft, West, Black; Crous, Ollie Parkinson, Ryan Parkinson, Emerson, Lamprey. Replacements: Hymes, Berry, Davies, Urmston, Wilkinson.

Referee: Luke Haskins

Attendance 258