A DEPLETED Redditch RFC side were beaten 29-6 at home by Stourport as the Kingfishers suffered a fourth consecutive defeat.
James Widdop kicked Redditch’s only points of the first half as their opponents ran in five tries to claim a bonus point victory at the Kingfishers’ expense.
The result leaves Redditch in fifth place in the Midlands 5 West (South table) who are now 10 points behind Stourport with six matches left to play.
Players and supporters joined together for a minute’s applause in memory of Jack Jeffrey prior to kick-off after the Evesham player tragically died when scoring a try last weekend.
Stourport exploited the right edge in the first half and ran in three tries to lead 15-3 at the interval as Redditch struggled to deal with the visitors movement.
The home side were strong with the ball in the pack however, and almost reduced the deficit on the stroke of half time when Redditch were held up over the line from a driving maul.
And Storm Eunice made for difficult handling conditions in the second period as Stourport were awarded an early penalty try for a collapsed scrum on the Redditch line.
The Kingfishers played well for the remainder of the half with AJ Lewis, Aaron Atkinson, Michael Allen and Takunda Kahwa catching the eye.
Despite conceding a breakaway try at the death, Redditch will have been delighted to get through the game without suffering any more major injuries.
The home side brought on Garry Mills for the final 10 minutes which saw the back row of Duncan Davis, Richie Beddard and Mills come to a combined age of 143 years between them.
Redditch are next in action at home to St Leonard’s on Saturday, March 5 with kick-off at 2.15pm at Redditch Cricket, Hockey and Rugby Club.
