Otley proved their own undoing as early as the 5th minute when a mis-directed box kick was collected infield by Stourbridge winger Jon Hall and the ball was transferred to the right were Alistair Bressington was the spare man on hand to go in at the corner and then convert to give the hosts an early 7-0 lead.

Otley enjoyed the better of the next 15 minutes and a strong driving maul from the pack set the platform for No.8 Dan Hyde to peel away and crash over in the corner. Unfortunately Stourbridge's PA announcer chose this moment to embarrass both himself and his club in making a pathetic underhand comment. Robin Kitching was narrowly wide with the conversion attempt.

Kitching exchanged penalties with Bressington before fly-half Rod Petty dropped a goal to make it 13-8 to Stourbridge.

Bressington kicked another penalty to open up an 8 point lead after the advantage rule seemed to have been inconsistently applied but Kitching brought Otley back to 16-11 on the stroke of half-time with a penalty from in front of the posts.

Otley started the second period in a noticably more aggressive manner and strong counter-rucking following the re-start saw possession awarded at a scrum on the opposition '22. Unfortunately a dropped pass in midfiled was seized upon and hacked downfield and a wicked bounce just short of the Otley line saw the ball evade Dave McCormack (on at full-back for the injured Kyle Dench) and Hall was able to re-gather and dive over to give his side a 21-11 lead.

Buoyed by consecutive penalties from the re-start, the second of which saw Otley lose second row Howard Parr to the sin bin, allowed the hosts to kick into the Otley '22. The home pack used their numerical advantage to good effect as prop Adrian Olver was driven over the line. Bressington added another fine touchline conversion and Stourbridge led 28-11 after 50 minutes.

Despite being a man down, Otley gave a brief glimpse of what they are capable of in the next 5 minutes. Otley laid siege to the Stourbridge line with second row Richard Snowball and Hyde to the fore. Olver twice killed the ball to deny Otley an otherwise inevitable score and the referee correctly awarded a penalty try which Kitching converted. Unfortunately, the referee seemed to forget to send Olver to join Otley's Parr in the sin-bin.

Soon after it was Otley's turn to profit from an awkward bounce of the ball when a chip to the corner by Ian Shuttleworth managed to squirt its way through several bodies and over the line where McCormack was on hand to apply downward pressure. Kitching was wide with the conversion but Otley were back within touching distance at 28-23 after 57 minutes and the game was there for the taking.

Petty restored his side's 8 point lead at 31-23 with a second drop goal but Otley then camped in the Stourbridge '22 between the 65th and 75th minutes. Centre Jon Buchanan and relacement backrower Xavier Andre went close but Stourbridge's desperate defence held firm. To make matters worse, a dropped ball in a good attacking position was once again fly-hacked clear and Bressington won the length of the field chase to dive on the ball over the Otley line. Bressington converted and added a penalty on the stroke of full-time to bring an end to proceedings.

Stourbridge were deserved winners on the day but Otley remain at the top of the League table - a position that has been founded on far more impressive team performances.

Otley's season is still very much in their own hands and they will now look to re-group ahead of hosting Redruth at Cross Green on Saturday 29th March.

Stourbridge: Jarvis, Bressington, Billig, Cook, Hall, Petty, Pointon, Olver, Gerry, Tideswell, Hughes, Muldowney, White, Jordan, Jenner

Otley: Dench (McCormack 20), Parsons, Buchanan, Whatmuff, Kitching, Shuttleworth (capt), Easterby, Wederall (Trethewey 60), Steele (Sayers 60), Fullman, Snowball, Parr, Williams, Bland (Andre 60), Hyde

Referee: A Vertigan (RFU)

MATCH STATISTICS

Stourbridge 41

Tries: Bressington (2), Hall, Olver

Cons: Bressington (3)

Pens: Bressington (3)

DGs: Petty (2)

Otley 23

Tries: Hyde, Penalty Try, McCormack

Cons: Kitching

Pens: Kitching (2)

Click here for individual league records