INJURIES TAKE THEIR TOLL

With handling errors and some poor option choices Stockport never managed to gain any momentum and were unable to match their opponents as an attacking force, scoring 2 tries to the 5 scored by their hosts.
Dudley Kingswinford were over the line and looked to have scored in the first 5 minutes but Stockport held them up. A good move by Stockport got fullback Mike Barlow on a good run but he was unable to retain possession, the Dudley wing picked up, chipped ahead and beat the Stockport defence to touch down under the posts for their first try. After 2 penalties to Dudley (one resulting in a yellow card for Dave Hopkins) and one to Stockport, The Dudley hooker stole the ball at a Stockport lineout and made ground into the Stockport half, the ball was moved right and the Dudley No 8 went in for a converted try. A Stockport drive of some 30 metres looked to have created a scoring opportunity; a home defender gave away a penalty to stop the attack and was sin binned. Stockport went for the lineout and after a good drive the attack broke down with a pass going into touch rather than to hand. At half time it was 20-3 to the home side.
The second half started with a good attack from an Elliot Fletcher kick ahead and from the lineout prop James Flynn got the try as he was driven over. Without the conversion Stockport were now 8-20 down. Dudley replied with a try under the posts as an inside pass created a gap in the Stockport defence. Another successful drive by the Stockport forwards gave a try to Hopkins, with Barlow adding the conversion to give encouragement but there was nothing else and Dudley added two more tries and a conversion to seal the match at 39-15.