By N Lawless
Huddersfield put in an impressive performance to record a 24-12 win at Stourbridge to make it two wins out of two in 2015.
On a bitterly cold Saturday afternoon, Huddersfield were good value for a win they had to come from behind to achieve.
Chris Bell got the away side off to a good start, kicking over a penalty with just four minutes on the clock.
Stourbridge responded strongly however and put immediate pressure on the Huddersfield back line before notching the first try of the match after 12 minutes through Nathan Bressington.
The home side continued to press with the backing of a vocal crowd and got their reward on 23 minutes with scrum half Jacob Nash scoring, Caolan Ryan completing the conversion to put Stourbridge 12-3 up.
Despite the early Stourbridge advantage, Huddersfield never looked out of the running and struck back on the brink of half time with Elliot Hodgson scoring right before the referee’s whistle, Bell’s conversion meaning the sides were separated by just three points at the break.
Right from the start of the second half Huddersfield looked the sharper side and more likely to make the breakthrough with some swift passing and smart kicking pushing Stourbridge to go deep.
On 49 minutes, Huddersfield sub Ben Morrill picked up the ball midway in the Stourbridge half and proceeded to jink his way through five players before completing a superb solo try, Chris Bell completing the conversion to give Huddersfield the lead again.
From there on the away side looked comfortable despite the desperate efforts of Stourbridge to strike back.
The home side perhaps edged possession but Huddersfield always looked more likely to increase their lead, and almost quickly did when a well-worked more so nearly saw a try but for a dropped ball at the last.
Stourbridge had one big chance to score, a break down the left wing that seemed to have outdone the Huddersfield defence but again at the pivotal moment they were stopped by the resilient backline.
Eventually Huddersfield completed their win in style, again scoring on the brink of the referee’s whistle. Dave Hall charged through at great pace to complete Huddersfield’s third try of the afternoon and Chris Bell converted again to complete an impressive day’s kicking for him.
‘Field move up to 10th in the table, just one point behind Stourbridge on a great afternoon for Gareth Lewis’ men.
Huddersfield
Elliot Hodgson
David Hall
Tom Owen
Charlie Martin
Michael Clark
Chris Bell
Dan Jeffrey
James Purcell
Ross Thornton
Laurence Sanderson
Austen Thompson
Nick Rhodes
Adam Malthouse
Ben Hoyle
Nick Sharpe
Subs: Ben Morrill (HT), Joel Hinchcliffe (65),
Stourbridge
Caelan Ryan
Nathan Bressington
Stefan Shillingford
Gary Dipple
Stefan Cooksammy
Jon Higgins
Jacob Nash
Adam Sturdy
Jordan Page
Mark George
Ciaran Moore
Robert Hurrel
Tatenda Mukarati
Ejike Uzoigwe
Drew Harper
