Stourbridge RUFC 33 Sandal RUFC 15
Admission: £6, Programme: £2 (40pp glossy, one of the better productions at this level)
Refreshments: Home-made game terrine, piccalilli and melba toast, followed by roast loin of pork, apple and cider sauce, served with herb sautéed potatoes and a selection of vegetables, and concluded by a chocolate and orange torte. Only kiddin’
– that’s what was on offer in the clubhouse for the Pre-Match Hospitality Meal. You have to book; and goodness knows what they charge. The Ostrich settled for a pre-match J20 from the clubhouse (£2.30) followed by a Butcher’s sausage inna bun (£3) from the outside barbecue, and concluded with an hot chocolate with marshmallows (£1.50) at halftime. As the bird was handed a cup, ushered over to an adjacent table and told “DIY”, let us just say there were rather, ... err ... well considerably, more marshmallows than hot chocolate - and where was the advertised whipped cream? 
Attendance: around 400 (guesstimate)
Anyway, I set off early for this one, around 11:30, as it was a “double”. Stourbridge RUFC, unlike most other rugby clubs, have a “reserves” team that is a separate club in its own right, sort of – Stourbridge Lions, who ply their trade in the pyramid set up at Level 7, in Midlands 2 West (North Division). They play on a dedicated second pitch nearer the main road, and as luck would have it, Lions had a home Midland Intermediate Cup game, (possibly Round 3 but these things are often shrouded in mystery in Rugby Cup circles), against another Level 7 side, from Midlands 2 East (North); a club I hadn’t seen play before, and that match started at 13:45 as the Lions’ pitch doesn’t have floodlights:
Stourbridge Lions RUFC 38 Nottingham Casuals RUFC 5
No admission or programme
Attendance: around 50
Given the last 24 hours of persistent rather than torrential rain, the West Midlands soccer programme was again pretty much decimated across the West Midlands, so rugby union was a no-brainer today and that fitted in well with this season’s master-plan as Sandal RUFC are another of my target teams this season.
A fairly trouble-free drive through the Black Country to Stourbridge’s attractive Stourton Park, set a half-mile or so into the countryside, just off the road to Kinver and Bridgnorth. It’s an extensive complex with an impressive clubhouse, opened 50 years ago, and they appeared to have reprinted and made available as a souvenir the commemorative programme from 14/09/1965, the date of the opening of the clubhouse and grounds, when they played a friendly match against Moseley RUFC, who in those days were one of the leading rugby union clubs in the country. That programme originally cost 2/- (10p); compare that to today’s charge of £2!
The pitches looked in good condition but needless to say were very soggy, and they were out forking the main pitch in front of the clubhouse to get rid of the odd patches of standing water prior to the main game. Over on the Lions’ pitch, the ground rapidly turned into a quagmire following a heavier burst of drizzle just around the start of the game. After initial Casuals’ pressure, Lions notched a decent converted try on 8m after an acrobatic juggle and catch on the sidelines enabled S.11 to race through, but Nottingham brought it back to 7-5 four minutes later. Two further Lions’ tries before the mid-way point of the first half kept the scoreboard moving before a muddy stalemate set in and the interval score was 19-5.
Three further Stourbridge Lions tries in the first 15 minutes of the second half took the score to an emphatic 38-5, after which stalemate again ensued, neither side really creating scoring chances.
The final twenty minutes or so overlapped with the Stourbridge vs Sandal game on the main pitch and I was able to keep an eye on both matches from the trackway running between them. In fact, there was no scoring in either game in that period, although Sandal twice hit the post from penalties, the first just below and the second just above the crossbar which I was standing alongside! Sandal spent the period pressurising Stourbridge and pinning them back in their own half, but Stourbridge suddenly took the game by the scruff of the neck and rattled in four tries in eleven minutes; superb stuff – fast-flowing back moves, expansive passing and assured handling while skating across a greasy surface. Sandal notched a penalty during Stourbridge’s scoring spree to make it 26-3 at the interval. No idea who the scorers were, we were by that point under floodlights, and shirt-numbers were illegible thanks to the mud ….
Four minutes after the interval, Stourbridge hit Sandal with a sucker-punch – a quickly-taken penalty kick floated right across the pitch to an unmarked player who ran in the try unchallenged. Stourbridge had done enough to win the game and collect maximum league points by that stage, and they didn’t bother the scoreboard again, but Sandal kept plugging away and two break-away tries in the remaining period were a reward for not giving up.
An entertaining pair of mud-fest matches to start the New Year, but I am aching tonight! There is no shelter around the Lions’ pitch, so I spent the first half watching the game from the car-park which provided an elevated view of the proceedings. But the Ostrich was trying to juggle a notebook, a pencil, a stopwatch, and an umbrella as it was tipping it down. Partial resolution of the conundrum was realised by tucking the handle of the umbrella inside the bird’s anorak, thus providing a hands-free head covering!
Thankfully, once the Lions’ match had finished, the Ostrich was able to repair to the more comfortable surroundings of a seat in the main stand – the umbrella had by this time been firmly returned to the boot of the car!A final word about Sandal RUFC. They are from Wakefield, and thus effectively Crommers’ local team. However, I believe both Crommers and WM to be staunch Rugby League men, so they may not know much about the men from Standbridge Lane. The club was formed in 1927 after a meeting at the Castle Inn, and in their early years, they made steady progress including an appearance in 1934 in the Final of “T’owd Tin Pot”, as the Yorkshire Cup is apparently known. By the 1990’s they were playing at their current level , Level 4, but suffered a decline back to the Yorkshire Leagues before rebuilding and fighting their way back to National 2 North. They defeated Stourbridge earlier in the season in Wakefield by 12-6, a pretty dour game by all accounts, and are currently up there with the promotion contenders, so today’s result was a bit of a setback.
Talking of setbacks, Sandal (or Sandal Magna as it is also known) is quite an ancient settlement on the River Calder. There was (is?) a stone castle there, and a major battle in the Wars of the Roses was fought there on 30/12/1460. Richard, Duke of York, led his forces out of the castle to do battle with the overwhelmingly superior forces of the Lancastrian Duke of Somerset. Richard lost his life, along with his two senior commanders. An enduring question to this day is why did Richard lead his forces out of the safety of the castle to fight a battle he couldn’t possibly win? We shall never know …
I also feel there needs to be some sort of National Enquiry into the variation in price in J20 fruit juices. £1.60 today, £2.30 at Stourbridge last Saturday? 
And I’ve seen similar variations at soccer grounds ...
