MATCH REPORT: National League Two North: Birmingham & Solihull 28-9 Stockport RUFC

It was a much improved performance by Stockport who were unfortunate to be 7-6 behind at half-time after a try by David Evans.

The Bees added to Evans’ try after half-time with touchdowns from Alexander O’Malley, Steven Leach and Chris Carlin to cap off a frustrating afternoon for the visitors.

“It’s the same old story," said Coach Matthew Bebbington. "We need to be consistent in what we are doing. Key words that I would use would be critical moments which we are losing."

He added: “There were lots of positives. We kept possession, we had territory and we had chances to score. It’s easy to talk about the negatives, but the biggest thing from the first game of the season till now is that we’ve improved 50-60%.”

Stockport went into this game desperate to kick-start their season after two heavy defeats against Ampthill and Sedgley Park and you could tell they were remaining positive after they had the better of the early exchanges.

The consistent Josh Longmore silenced the home supporters after he kicked over two penalties to give Stockport a 0-6 lead after 27 minutes.

Stockport were showing a much tighter defence and were sacking the ball well with the forwards putting in a great shift winning numerous scrums.

But then the home crowd had something to cheer about. David Evans pounced on a loose ball after Stockport were well tackled and profited from the visitors mistake to go over.

Fly-half Adam Canning converted to give the hosts the advantage at half-time.
After the break, Stockport continued to show great character, but couldn’t find an end product as it was difficult to break down the Birmingham and Solihull defence.

However, as Bebbington said, it was the same old story for Stockport as another error lead to Birmingham and Solihull’s second try of the game. O’Malley took full advantage of a loose ball at the scrum and crossed over from 10 meters out. Canning added the extras to stretch the lead to 14-6.

Stockport weren’t going lie down easily. Replacement prop Oliver Longmore along with Alistair Green and Elliot Fletcher made good line breaks to move Port up field and they were eventually awarded a penalty. The boot of Josh Longmore reduced the gap to five points and brought them right back into the contest.

But straight from the kick-off Stockport were pinned back and the game was over in the space of five minutes as replacement Number 8 Steven Leach scored and then a wonderful move by the Birmingham and Solihull backs was rounded off by Chris Carlin for his first try of the season - both converted by Canning. The hosts ended the game with 14 men when scrum half Jack Jolly was sin binned for persistent feeding at the scrum.

“Obviously after the game everyone’s disappointed but the culture is right in the team. You can tell there is no fault in the effort,” said Bebbington.

“Positive thing is from the first game to this game, is that we have improved and we just need to improve further.”

It was clearly a frustrating afternoon for Stockport who have improved vastly over the last three weeks. Debutant George Smith showed some bright moments with the versatile Simon Green putting in another solid performance. The only negative for the Red, Green and Whites (in terms of players) was that winger Myles Hall was taken off injured after bravely going into a collision with Evans.

There is certainly a lot more to come from Stockport this season and it’s only a matter of time before things start to click for Bebbington’s side.

Stockport’s next match is at Headlands Road against Preston Grasshoppers next Saturday. Kick-Off 3pm.

Hear Matthew Bebbington’s full interview here along with reaction from Jonnny Edwards, George Smith and Myles Hall.

Birmingham and Solihull: Carlin; Evans, Johns, Connolly, O’Malley; Canning, Jolly; Stephens, Forder, Scriven; Dunne, Goddard (capt); Bingham, Crane, Koziot.

Replacements: Grinsell, Kettle, Spink, Leach, Briggs.

Tries: Evans, O'Malley, Leach, Carlin
Cons: Canning (4)

Stockport: J Edwards; Cantwell, Fletcher, Smith, Hall; J Longmore, M. Edwards; S Green, Baldwin, Hibbs; Hopkins, A Green; Anthony, Millea, Fuller (capt).

Replacements: O Longmore, Pearson, Marsland, Mitchell, Bebbington.

Pens: J.Longmore (3)

Referee: Brendan McGaffney.