Rugby round-up: Stourbridge Lions clinch title as Burntwood fall just short
Stourbridge Lions ruthlessly secured the Counties Two Midlands West (West) title with three games still to play by defeating Longton 45-15, writes Dan Hickey.
George Westwood, Ethan Gilbert, Will Bishop and Ben Furber all touched down, while George Walker earned a brace. James Westwood bagged 15 points in a brilliant kicking performance.
The Lions have only lost one game all season and currently sit 16 points clear of second-placed Bromyard, having scored the most points and conceded the fewest in the division.
Director of rugby Neil Mitchell said: “It isn't just the playing the players, it's the off-field staff, it's the physios, it's the whole shebang really. As I said, it's been great having a united front.
“Everybody's done their part. That's what happens when you get success. You know everybody has a part to play.
“Rehab's been a big thing. We've suffered with some really bad injuries this this season.
“Some of them have just been beyond the work of a physiotherapist unfortunately, but that management of players has been essential to ensure that we get people back on the pitch.
“But yeah, as I said, it's a team effort. When I say a team, it's the off-field and the on-field that make it work.”
Mitchell made a special mention of Ben Furber, who 'embraces the ethos of the senior squad.’
Walsall Seconds climbed to ninth in the division, beating eighth-placed Harborne 26-16 to end a three-match losing run.
Luke Chambers touched down thrice, while Josh Jones and Louie Peake added in an important win leaving them two points ahead of second-bottom Oswestry.
Burntwood are confirmed to finish second in Counties One Midlands West (North) after losing 35-17 to the unbeaten champions, Sutton Coldfield.
The runners-up needed to turn over the eventual league winners and hope their opposition lost their last two matches to have a chance of snatching the title.
Despite tries from Tom Shorrock and Luke Rookyard, Sutton were able to add another bonus-point win to a perfect season, as they crossed 1,000 points scored.
Elsewhere in the division, Willenhall moved even further from the bottom two as they beat Wolverhampton 26-10.
Willenhall are 20 points clear of their bottom-of-the-league opposition thanks to tries from Zakary Quintyne, Ewan Zagorski, Sam Coyne and Nathan Brown.
Dan Chambers and Rhys Nickle touched down for Wolverhampton.
Kidderminster lost 45-20 to third-placed Veseyans despite a brace of tries from Morgan Maxwell and Martin McIlroy and Finley Bates adding to the scoreline.
In Regional One Midlands, second-placed Stourbridge demolished second-bottom Silhilians 64-5, with Nick Selway, Dan Johnson (two), Dallas Ororo (two), Drew Harper (two), Michael Heaney, Matt Moseley and Luke Bimson all touching down.
Dudley Kingswinford lost 27-17 at Derby, despite tries from William Elsmore and Callum Nicholls. DK remain 10th.
Lichfield remain three points clear at the top of Regional Two Midlands North after beating Paviors 41-12.
Paul Maxwell-Keys (two) got the opening try for Lichfield, being joined on the scoresheet by Rhys Davies, Kai Lucas-Dumolo, Kieran Higgins and Sam Craddock, who hadn’t scored in more than six years.
Walsall stay fifth despite beating Newark 58-24. They bagged nine tries through nine different scorers as Richard Clarke, George Green, Hansen Christoffersen, Adam Nunney, Kyle Reid, Max Vaughan, Ben Pitt, Corbon Clarke-Selby and Toby Smith all touched down.
And in Regional Two Midlands West, Old Halesonians are eighth after losing 27-22 to Hereford.
