Stourport Men’s 1st XI 5-3 Telford & Wrekin

Stourport men's 1st XI unbelievable unbeaten run, which now stands at fourteen out of fourteen, continues in Midland Division 1 with a 5-3 victory, over their visitors Telford & Wrekin.

In this top of the table clash, Stourport came out strongly and dominated possession early on with Andy Cavendish and Simon Claris seeing plenty of the ball and feeding onto Stefan Sekula and Dan Hurley.

Stourport scored on through a fine Joe Schubert reverse stick finish from the top of the 'D'. Stourport scored again shortly afterwards when Claris sent an overhead pass which cleared everyone, finding an attacker on the back post to guide the ball across the ball into an empty net.

Next, it was Claris to score, opening his account with a low drag flick which left the Telford keeper standard. Another overhead pass this time from Captain Cavendish, found Schubert in space, who skipped past challenges to find Joshua Appleby in space who slotted in number four.  4-0 at the break and Telford needed to change their system and try put pressure on the Stourport backline.

The visitors opened their account from a penalty corner, with the Telford forward flicking the ball low and hard which squirmed under Alex Cook the Stourport keeper. Telford pulled another goal back to make it 4-2 after the ball was slotted past Cook, after a swift counter-attack, before Claris doubled his tally with another goal from a penalty corner. Telford then added a third to their tally from a late penalty corner, but Stourport held on for a 5-3 victory. Stourport travelling to third place Sutton Coalfield next week know that victory will secure promotion.

Stourport Men’s 2nd X1 2-5 Ludlow 1st X1

Stourport's men's 2nd XI played out a 2-2 draw when they travelled to take on Ludlow 1st XI in the Midlands Division 4 West. 

Stourport got off to the best possible start with an aerial from Stokes, which the Ludlow defender was unable to trap, when Matt Derbyshire slotted it home.

Ludlow took control of the match but was unable to get past some smart goalkeeping from Kasim Abbas, keeping the hosts at bay. Ludlow eventually overloaded Stourport at the back post and with Abbas unable to get across in time, the hosts equalised. Stourport had a sense of déjà vu in the second half, as Stokes threw an aerial to Derbyshire who once again found the back of the net.  

Ludlow fought back and through a combination of Stourport being unable to retain possession, and some good hockey, Ludlow pulled a fortunate equaliser with a reverse stick lob which, with a number of players competing for, found a Ludlow forward first, whose shot ended nestling in the back of the net.

Ludlow continued to push but some strong defending kept the opposition at bay. Stourport's player of the match was Abbas for his smart saves.

Stourport Men’s 3rd X1 2-5 Sutton Coalfield 3rd X1

Stourport Men's 3rd XI suffered a 2-5 defeat to their hosts, Sutton Coalfield 3rds', in the Midland South West 6 Division. As in their previous match, Stourport found themselves two goals down early on but managed to pull the scores back level but unlike the previous match week, they weren't able to capitalise and fell away as Sutton took control of the game scoring three, second half, goals without reply, Stourport's player of the match Mike Shaw for his hardworking performance in the centre of midfield.

Stourport Men’s 5th XI 5-2 Pershore 2nd XI

Stourport men's 5th XI repeated their success of the previous week with another victory, in the Midlands Men's Division 9 South West league. This time it was visitors Pershore 2nd's that were on the end of a 5-2 scoreline.  

Stourport Men’s 6th XI 2-3 Droitwich 3rd XI

Stourport men's 6th XI lost this pulsating, Midlands 10 South West Division encounter, 2-3 against visitors Droitwich 3rd XI. 

Ladies’ Section

Stourport Ladies’ 2nd XI 2-3 Rugby & East Warwickshire 1st XI

Stourport ladies 2nd had a frustrating 2-3 loss, at the hands of their hosts, Rugby & East Warwickshire 1st XI in the Midlands Women's Premier League. In the tightest match of the season, Stourport after taking the lead in the first half through Leanne Bennett and Sophie Tibbets only lost towards the end of the match. Stourport fought hard throughout the match; however, Rugby was able to take several good chances which gave them the 3-2 victory. Despite the frustration of this match, Stourport will take the lessons into the next match where they'll work on their connections and penalty corners.

Stourport Ladies 5th XI 0-7 Barford Tigers 1st XI

A depleted Stourport ladies 5th's conceded seven goals against a Barford Tigers side, that have only conceded two goals all season, in the Women's Division 5 Beacon. Stourport knew they would have to defend for most of the match, and defend they did, blocking and closing down at every opportunity to the frustration of their visitors, Stourport finally went behind from a strongly hit strike from a short corner.

The floodgates failed to open for Barford though, as Stourport's defence hassled and harried the visitor's forwards. Barford did manage to add a further two goals before the break but was curtailed by the Stourport defence. Barford stepped up the pace in the second half winning a series of short corners that Stourport's defence was more than equal to. With Barford constant pressing there was little respite for Stourport, and as the shots came in thick and fast, the home defence stood firm.

Barford came close again with an effort that was cleared off the line by a Stourport defender and missed a penalty flick, awarded after the ball hit first the body, and then the arm of defender Sara Jennings, who was on the line. Barford did convert some of their chances though, and by the final whistle had scored a further four goals to seal a 0-7 victory.

Report submitted by Stourport Hockey Club