MATCH REPORT: Birmingam Exiles 17 - Church Stretton 45 Church Stretton progressed to the next round of the cup as they comfortably won 45 – 17 at Birmingham Exiles. Fly-Half Nick Morris was the pick of the Samurai performers as he scored a hat-trick of tries and added eight points with the boot. Further scores were added by centre Joe Collins, prop Nick Evans, flanker Jack Titley and winger Alex Pheby in a seven try romp for the Samurai. Despite a strong start from the visitors, it was the Birmingham side who scored first against the run of play. They capitalised on a loose pass from Stretton to launch a fast counter-attack and score an unconverted try after five minutes. This setback spurned on the Samurai, who soon hit back with a try of their own to level the scores. After pouncing on a loose ball on halfway, Titley fed full-back Danny Harley, who broke free and weaved his way past four defenders, before passing inside to Morris who beat the last defender to score. Harleys involvement was again key as Stretton took the lead soon after with a second try. He combined well with Pheby on the right flank to set Collins free on the inside. The instrumental centre did the rest as he stepped his way past the remaining tacklers before reaching for the line to dot down as he was brought to ground. Fellow centre Ash Passant added the conversion to stretch the lead to seven points. With the bit between their teeth, Stretton looked to add to their score before the break as they pummelled the home side with a series of powerful carries and breaks. Forwards Ben Wintle, Matt Charles and Chris Yapp carried strongly, and the line-out functioned well with second-row Phil Parkes securing good ball for the visitors. Parkes created the third try for the Samurai as he broke through on halfway, before off-loading to Collins to make further ground with a trademark run. Collins passed to Morris, who sprinted clear of two defenders to score his second try of the game, leaving the score at 17 – 5 at half-time. Following a frenetic start to the second period, the Samurai thought they had another try as Collins crossed the line following a break from Parkes, only for the referee to judge the final pass to have gone forward. Both sides had chances to add to the scoreline as the game ebbed and flowed after the break, but Morris calmed the Samurai nerves as he completed his hat-trick ten minutes after the break. After strong work from Dom Wilding and captain Matt Young, who showed he had an elegant step as well being a big ball-carrier, Stretton worked their way towards the line, only to lose the ball with a handling error. The Exiles tried to run it from deep, but Pheby and Titley combined to win a turnover out wide. The ball was quickly worked to Morris who dummied a pass before swerving his way to the line. Morris converted his own try with a tricky kick from out wide. The home side responded with a try of their own, but any thoughts of a comeback were quelled with three quick-fire tries from Stretton, all of which were converted by Morris. Firstly, a cross-field kick from Morris found Jamie Bates on the wing, who popped the ball inside to Collins. Collins beat a couple of opposition before feeding Titley, who skipped inside two men to dot down under the posts. Collins then fielded the restart and set off on a spectacular run into the opposition half, ably supported by Dan Harris, Will Bryant and the ever-present Parkes who combined to keep the ball alive deep into the Exiles twenty-two. Eventually the attack was halted, but Stretton soon recycled the ball and after a couple more phases, prop Nick Evans picked up to drive over the whitewash. The final Stretton try came soon after, with Morris again pivotal in the build up. His kick forward was collected by Titley, who offloaded to the onrushing Pheby in support. Pheby handed off the Birmingham full-back and sprinted clear to score under the posts, the conversion taking the Samurais tally to 45 points. The home-side added a late consolation try, which was converted to leave the final score at 45 – 17 to Church Stretton. Stretton will now host Market Drayton in the next round on the 8th of November, but first they return to league action next week with another trip to Birmingham, this time taking on the Barbarians.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 21:34:22 +0000
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