Neighbours fight it out for top spot
Dudley Kingswinford made it two wins from two with a 29-24 victory against Banbury in rugby’s Regional One Midlands.
DK went into the break losing 19-12, despite tries from Leo Davies and William Hancox, but a quick second-half try from Morgan Woodward, converted by Samuel Vaughan, levelled the scoring. Banbury pulled ahead again, however, a converted try from DK’s James Ryan and a late penalty from Vaughan were enough to take the points.
Neighbours Stourbridge also made it successive victories with a win over Bromsgrove, to put them top of the table, a point ahead of DK.
Their 33-23 win followed on from a convincing victory over Long Eaton in their opening fixture the previous weekend.
Old Halesonians also maintained their strong start back in the Regional Two Midlands West with victory over Ludlow.
In Regional Two Midlands North, Lichfield beat Melbourne 25-19 with tries from Jack Hurst and David Mott. Two penalties from Lichfield proved the difference between the sides.
Walsall faced Dronfield, but first-half scorers Callum Martin, Luke Chambers, Maxwell Hughes, and Corbon Clark-Selby weren’t enough and they eventually lost 40-24.
Stafford scored seven tries in a 45-17 demolition of Wolverhampton. Tries from Charlie Collier, Alex Rock, Archie Bent, Henry Perks, Gregor Lennon, and Connor McCulloch were all converted by Perks, while Oliver Croft also added to the tally.
Elsewhere, in the Counties One Midlands West (North), Burntwood went second after they beat Willenhall 45-32. Two tries from George Morgan and another from Nico Bond were not enough for Kidderminster Carolians, who lost 33-24 to Telford Hornets.
Stourbridge Lions beat Trentham 47-12 in the Counties Two Midlands West (West). A brace of tries from George Westwood and Ted Morgan with further touchdowns from Alex Deery, Ethan Gilbert and Fin Morgan did the damage. Walsall Seconds lost to Longton 34-17 despite Eashan Mall, Adam Tamilio, and Roger Weston scoring.
Handsworth beat Aldridge in the Counties Three Midlands West (North), with tries coming from Benjamin Millington, Gavin Taylor, Christopher Bell, and Thomas Cartlidge.
Aldridge’s Adam Reed and Ben Giles went over the try line but they still lost 21-28.
Eccleshall narrowly lost to Newcastle Seconds 22-21. Tries came from Euan Hopkins, Aaron Clemson and Harvey Blowfield.
Rugeley also lost out in a tight encounter to Burton Thirds, coming out on the wrong end of a 31-29 scoreline. Cannock lost 34-15 to league leaders Uttoxeter and Stone lost 45-24 to Leek Seconds – despite tries from Owen Smith, Ben Williams, Lewis Kemp, and Benjamin Underwood.
In Counties Three Midlands West (East), Lichfield Seconds beat Veseyans Seconds 26-10 as Tom Sexon, Henry Nevitt, Harrison Stratford, and Steve Key all scored. St Leonards beat Burntwood Seconds 44-11 in the Counties Four Midlands West (North). Burntwood’s only try came from Alex Rich, while Matt Skelton (2), Carl Butler (2), Zak Elkin, Gareth Smith, and Shaun Whiting all scored for home side.
Warley’s Connor Leahy won their man of the match in their 95-7 demolition of Erdington, while Wednesbury beat Linley 59-7 with tries from Dom Weathers (4), Ethan Orton (2), Ethan Hyde (2), and Jordan Allwood.
Tries from Andy Barker and Wil Osborn were not enough for Essington as they lost 58-17 to Telford Hornets Seconds. Old Halesonians Seconds beat Stourport 48-18 in Counties Four Midlands West (South), despite Stourport’s Jack Hardwick and Zachary Leavesley scoring.
