Stourbridge 53, Hull 22

STOUR made a mockery of their recent poor form by putting second from bottom Hull to the sword with a spectacular first half display, writes Nick Pullen.

The match was over as a contest by half time as rampant Stour built a handsome 36-5 lead.

Class act Caolan Ryan set the tone from the word go.

The Moseley loanee, playing at fly half, sliced through Hull's defence straight from the kick-off and set up the chance for skipper Nigel Mukarati to score the opening try with just 59 seconds gone on the clock.

By the 21st minute mark, Stour had already wrapped up the bonus point with four tries, which enabled Director of Rugby Neil Mitchell to give all his squad plenty of game time.

Left wing Gary Dipple grabbed the second try as Stour threw the ball at every opportunity before No.8 Drew Harper bulldozed his way over for two more tries.

Hull did manage to snap up a try of their own, when against the run of play, alert forward replacement Joe Stafford was quick to spot the ball squirting out of a driving maul and pounced to score with his first touch.

Stour were soon back on the offensive, Dipple adding a second try while Ryan proved imperious with the boot, slotting over four conversions and then a penalty on the stroke of half time to secure Stour's 36-5 advantage.

Credit to Hull, who got their act together in the second half.

Following a second Ryan penalty, Hull scored from a driving maul with tight head prop Adam Macklin getting the vital touch.

Stour struck back, Dipple crowning a fine display by completing a hat-trick of tries on 71 minutes to make the score 46-10.

Another mass driving maul saw Hull full back Jamie Clark credited with a third Hull try.

But Stour weren't finished, second row Ciaran Moore securing a seventh try on 79 minutes.

The only downside for Stour was allowing Hull time to hit back and keep the ball alive long enough to obtain a fourth and bonus point try of their own well past the 80 minute mark, Macklin again proving the man on the mark and presenting fly half Greg Lound with his only successful kick of the afternoon when adding the conversion.

From Stour's point of view, there were plenty of positives.

Ben Barkley made a welcome return in the centre following a three month absence with a broken jaw.

Freddie Brookes stepped up from the Lions to start as hooker, while England age group tight head prop Jack Spencer, currently on Gloucester's books, started on the bench and was soon entered into the fray once the bonus point was obtained.

Another Lions prospect Tom Mitchell - no relation I'm told - also came off the bench.

Added to that, both Ben Hughes and Ashley Oyekan are back in training , giving Neil Mitchell further options that have been sadly lacking for much of the season.

Stourbridge: Jarvis; Bressington, Shillingford, Barkley, Dipple; Ryan, Nash; Sturdy, Brookes, George; Moore, Hurrell; Mukarati, Uzoigwe, Harper. Replacements: Mitchell, Depper, Cullen, Spencer, Tuipulotu.

Attendance 325