Harrogate 18 Stourbridge 25
Stourbridge avoided the potential banana skin presented by winless bottom club Harrogate and defied their lengthening injury list to claim their fifth win in six away matches.
Still without first-choice half-backs Toby Handley and Duncan Hughes, they were forced into late changes due to the additional loss of centre Cameron Mitchell and influential No 8 Julian Horrobin, whose places went to Ryan Watkins and Stean Williams.
Williams played in the centre with Guillaume Schueller and as Hughes and Mitchell are the usual goal- kickers, ultra-versatile Jon Hall had the opportunity to demonstrate another of his talents by putting over his first four kicks.
With a fierce wind behind them, Harrogate dominated the opening 20 minutes and it was ironic that they got their first score, after 20 minutes, from Stourbridge's first attack.
Fullback Mark Aspinall made an interception in his own half, chipped through and won the race to touch down and although Hall replied with a penalty, Aspinall then dropped a goal from a wide angle and 30 metres out.
The turning point was shortly before the halftime interval when Hall landed his second penalty and then home lock Matt Challiner was sent to the sin-bin for persistent foul play.
After a five-metre scrum and several rucks, scrumhalf James Price sniped from the base for a try, Hall converting for a 13-8 half-time lead.
Stourbridge scored five minutes after the break, with Challiner still absent, as they ran the ball across the field from a five-metre scrum and centre Watkins scored a try splendidly converted by Hall.
Mark Chester kicked a penalty for Harrogate but, after 64 minutes, scrumhalf Marcus Cook made it 25-11 by sprinting through a gap in the home defence.
The visitors'captain and prop, Virgil Hartland, left with a fractured thumb and Harrogate earned their eighth bonus point in ten games when Nick Wainwright converted a try by Challiner from a rolling maul.
