Stainland Stags - 14 Meltham All Blacks - 30
Another solid performance saw them win at Stainland in what was to be a stop start match.
Early possession and territorial advantage was to the All Blacks who did not manage to cross the whitewash despite a lot of good positive rugby. The first try came from Stainland as their number 2 intercepted a pass and had the legs to beat three chasing players. Stainland then took advantage of some careless defence and scored under the post to take a 12 point lead. Meltham then started to work as a unit defending and attacking with equal effort. Daniel Hird opened Meltham's scoring, followed by Matthew Carter just before half time. This put Meltham right back in the game with the score 12 a piece at the break.
The second half was far better for Meltham with some great running leading to three more tries. Matthew Hird and then, man of the match, Daniel Hird scored a quality try from30 metres out. Carl Batley kept his record of scoring in every match he has played in with one of his trademark drives. Unfortunately, Richard Barber suffered a broken wrist when he was tripped making a break down the centre of the field. Hopefully he will recover from this quickly. A penalty in the second half allowed Stainland to close the gap but these were to be the final points they scored.
Meltham's tries were converted by Richard Ellis (4) and Bam Bam (1).