Wednesday 12 November 2025 10:48
Glaring up the slope into the retina-burning sun for the first-half, a very strong Newport Second XV, managed to stay in the game, despite not quite clicking into gear. The promise and endeavour were
clearly present, however a lively Stourbridge, ultra-rapid in transition, capitalised ruthlessly on Newport errors. With the conditions reversed and Newport’s understanding and cohesion developing, the second-half saw Newport fully grasp the tie, romping in five tries to Stourbridge’s one.
With an expectant confidence, Newport started strongest mauling twice toward the right-wing corner. Fergus Lamb’s unwitnessed grounding meant Newport needed to go again. The slick midfield
axis of Toby Egerton to Dan Robinson and then Sam Sergeant under the posts could possibly portent a blueprint for a Newport epic. However, Stourbridge refused to accept that script. Firstly, moving with power to their left-wing forcing themselves over and then established a consolidated period of territorial dominance.
From Stourbridge’s grubber, Marsden Humphries’ graceful pick-up at speed and countered, creating a brief opening for Newport. However, with knock-on advantage, Stourbridge instantly inverted the opportunity, swiftly moving out to their left and then inside to leave Newport stranded.
The majority of Newport’s task remained; tackle and defend. But a Liam Wordley underlap from Newport’s lineout and attacking shift to the left brought hope, only to be dashed with a missed pass out of play. Stourbridge, unchecked by Newport’s foray, restored their ascendency, attacking with gust, this time on their right-wing. Humphries’ and Ben Tagg’s vital tackles closed Stourbridge’s route, but regrouping through the centre with greater numbers Stourbridge scored their third and looked to have the fixture under control.
Desperate to establish a springboard before the turnaround, both Billy Boot and Parry’s driving tackles signalled intent. With Lamb in support of Robinson’s offload, Newport’s attack regrouped and relief as Matt Hubbart ran-in to close the gap to only five points.
There was however, no immediate reversal of fortune, Newport had to build their momentum gradually as Stourbridge remained defiant. When Humphries was erroneously adjudged to knock-on over the tryline, from Robinson’s long pass, Newport’s determination only seemed to grow. Robinson’s diagonal dart, Manasa Qulabula’s collect and unstoppable off, put Newport ahead and commenced Newport’s indomitable onslaught.
With increasing confidence and solidity, Robinson found more space to pull the strings. Another long pass to the wing and a searching cross-field grubber kept Stourbridge guessing and on their back foot. Robinson then shifted on Egerton’s pacy pass to the onrushing Parry for the first of three rapid tries. Sergeant finding Jake Reynolds running an inside line and then Reynolds and Robinson interchanging passes through the middle for Robinson to get on the try-sheet.
Stourbridge’s left-wing, offload-pass to the supporting inside-line dissected Newport’s defence for a superb try, but Newport weren’t prepared to allow Stourbridge have the final word. With advantage from Sergeant’s tackle causing Stourbridge to knock-on, Tagg, on the right-wing, snaffled possession and high-tailed upfield. With Stourbridge’s defence closing, Tagg set-up a trio of Newport runners; kicking toward the posts. Reading the bounce best, Wordley collected and completed a deserved try.
Newport continued to press until the end as Stourbridge unfortunately lost discipline and compounded matters further with dissent. Newport’s developing performance, both through the season and demonstrably during this game is massively encouraging. Maintaining this hugely` impressive squad is imperative to building better understanding and greater consistency. Success is unquestionably destined for Newport Second XV, provided they can keep this cohort available.
