Alcester 55 Stoke Old Boys 24
Midlands Three West (South)
ALCESTER emerged victorious in a game of 13 tries and two red cards to register their fourth win of the league campaign.
With a sizeable Kings Coughton crowd present as the president and his lunch guests took the sidelines, Alcester gained an early lead through Jamie Clarke and a successful kick of Max Biltcliffe’s boot.
After Stoke Old Boys were caught off their feet at a ruck, Biltcliffe was less successful with his second attempt at the posts as his penalty kick failed to make it through the uprights.
However, the momentum remained with Alcester and the Red & Blacks were held up over the line but, five minutes later, the visitors went down to 14 men after a deliberate knock-on and Alcester used the advantage of the extra man as a brilliant set of hands from the back of a scrum allowed Josh O’Connor to cross on the left wing.
Ross Gard was next to score after backing himself and finding the confidence to take on the last few defenders, finally being rewarded for his efforts on the wing in the past few games.
The Coventry side went straight back up the other end of the pitch after the kick-off to claw back a try of their own but Jack Green was quick to dampen their spirits with the home side’s bonus point try.
O’Connor then scored the fifth Alcester try and his second of the game to increase his team’s lead.
In a slight confusion when the ball looked like it had been knocked-on, Stoke Old Boys stopped defending but the referee deemed it to have come off a player’s head and Green was quick to gather the ball and score between the posts for his second try.
Ed Gough scored Alcester’s final try of the first half to give them a healthy 43-7 lead at the break.
It was the Coventry side who came out with the second half momentum and they opened the scoring of the second period.
Alcester’s Louis Smith was next on the scoreboard but then the visitors scored two tries in as many minutes.
The game started to heat up and the competitiveness had reached its peak, which boiled over with a red card for either side, with O’Connor forced to leave the pitch.
However, Green soon turned the mood around when he scored his hat-trick try and sealed victory for Alcester.
Ninth-placed Alcester visit Upton, who sit 11th, on Saturday.
Woodrush 2nds 43 Alcester 2nds 21
AFTER scheduled league opposition Atherstone cried off on Thursday, Alcester 2nds travelled to Woodrush where they met with defeat.
The first half was evenly matched, with Sean Sudworth, Glyn Smith and Antony Cauvin all scoring tries for Alcester and Sudworth successfully converting all three to leave the score 21-21 at half-time.
Alcester were able to enjoy the return of Adam Turner for the first time in a few seasons, whilst Sean Nash returned after suffering an injury in a pre-season friendly, but Woodrush pulled away with several tries in the closing stages.
