Sedgley Park 33 Stourbridge 13

THE sun shone and Sedgley sparkled, running in three tries in a fast and entertaining first half.

The final 40 minutes were less inspiring, but Sedgley had cruised into a third round tie with Coventry.

An early penalty by Rob Moon was reward for a fluent start by the home team, but a mistake by full-back Alun Peacock led to a try for Stourbridge after eight minutes. His fumble led to a scrum at which Sedgley were penalised, and lock Matt Aston scored with some ease; stand-off Ben Harvey converted.

Five minutes later, Sedgley took the lead with a particularly good try. Number eight, Tim Fourie, made the initial break, supported by back-row colleagues Kern Yates and Richard Senior and Senior's well-timed pass gave winger Ross Bullough a run to the line from half-way; Moon converted.

The game was becoming most entertaining with John Scales for Sedgley and the elusive little Harvey for the visitors frequently beating would-be tacklers. The game swung Sedgley's way when Dave McCormack's quickly taken penalty resulted in the sin-bin for the man who tackled him, as well as three more points to the boot of Moon. Strong driving by the pack was the prelude to the next try. Moon's long pass provided space for Bullough's dancing feet and Paul Morris was in support, across from the opposite wing, and he scored the try which Moon again converted. Stourbridge enjoyed a good ten minutes but were rewarded with a single penalty goal only as, not for the first time this season, Sedgley's defence stood up well. The home team had the last word when, in the first half injury time, Moon produced a flash of individual brilliance to create a try out of nothing for the supporting Yates. Moon proved his place in the ranks of ordinary mortals by missing the easy conversion, but his team led 25-10 at the interval, with the advantage of the slope to come.

Stourbridge began the second half well, applying pressure which resulted in another penalty goal for Harvey, but once again Sedgley bounced back with a try. Stourbridge seemed in no great danger with an easy clearance to touch available, but Senior charged down the kick and followed up to score himself.

Another Moon penalty, 12 minutes into the half, put Sedgley 33-13 up but with the game won, the home team lost shape as play became scrappy. Two sin-binnings reduced Sedgley to 13 men at one stage but Stourbridge still could not get across the line, for which credit must go to a Sedgley defence well organised by Carlos Hassan as much as to their own poor handling.

The highlight of an otherwise drab second half was provided by the biggest player, Stourbridge's giant Samoan winger, Daniel Fourani, and the smallest, Sedgley full-back Alun Peacock, who tackled him in full flight when a try seemed certain.

There is an excellent spirit in this Sedgley side as well as obvious ability. These are players who enjoy playing and enjoy playing for one another.

TEAM: Peacock, Bullough, Scales, Hassan, Morris, Moon, McCormack, Latham, Keyes, (Treco), Johnson, Arnold, Rees, (Fletcher), Senior, (Grainey), Yates, Fourie.

Harrogate are at Park Lane on Saturday, in a league fixture. The cup match against famous Coventry is on Saturday, October 13.