Vital Newport victory takes them clear of the drop zone

Bob Adams’ side moved 10 points – two bonus-point wins – clear of the bottom two with eight matches remaining ahead of Saturday’s trip south to face mid-table Exeter University.

In a topsy-turvy encounter with Stourbridge, Newport struck first when Jacob Leonard crossed for an unconverted try in the fourth minute.

But Stour levelled just three minutes later through Matthew Moseley and then wrestled the lead when Chad Thorne crossed and Rickie Aley converted.

However, Newport made it 12-12 when Leonard converted Daniel Brough’s try and they went in at half-time 19-12 to the good thanks to Leonard’s second try and second conversion.

Jack Lea touched down for Stour in the second half, with Aley’s conversion making it 19-19, but once Newport grabbed the lead again there was no looking back.

Christopher Taylor went over for an unconverted with 16 minutes remaining to take the score to 24-19, securing Newport a bonus point in the process.

But the hosts were not finally home and try until Daniel Brough touched down with six minutes remaining – with Leonard converting.

There was still time for Stour to score a couple of bonus points of their own, though, with Daniel Rundle scoring their fourth try of the match in the last minute to bring the score back to 31-24.

Following this weekend’s trip to Exeter, Newport return home for a crunch clash with a Hornets side one place and two points above them on March 4, with only one more match after that scheduled against a side currently in the bottom half.

Ludlow hammered fifth-placed Malvern 52-12 to tighten their grip on third in Regional Two West Midlands – and keep the pressure on the two sides above them.

They can close the gap this weekend with the first of their games in hand at Wolverhampton, with leaders Old Halesonians and second-placed Walsall not in action.

And the following weekend they visit Old Hales in a bid to make a late charge for promotion.

Whitchurch remain down in ninth after a 26-19 defeat at Crewe & Nantwich – they are home to Malvern this weekend.

Telford Hornets ended a rotten run of form to secure just their second victory of the year.

The Hornets had tasted defeat in five of their previous six games before overcoming rock-bottom Uttoxeter 36-24 in Counties One Midlands West (North) on Saturday.

Hornets travelled with a much-changed backline, giving first-team debuts to colts players Charlie Wood and Ben Underwood.

Early penalties gifted Uttoxeter a 10-0 lead, but Hornets responded with a try from captain Steve Monk and then a penalty try awarded for a high tackle on Wood as he crossed the line in the left corner.

Then, attacking through the middle of the park, Dan Robinson offloaded to Joe Mottershaw for his first try – converted by Robinson to increase the lead to 19-10.

Uttoxeter fought back with a converted try, followed on 40 minutes by Mottershaw’s second try – the space again created by Robinson as Hornets went into half-time with a 24-17 lead.

The start of the second half saw the Hornets kick for territory and a five-metre line out, a clean catch and drive had Denham Samuels bursting through the defence, supported by Lewis Prince, to score and extend the lead – only for Uttoxeter to fight back with their third converted try.

But Russell Fletcher charged over and Robinson converted to make sure there would be no late fightback from the hosts to leave Telford in eighth position and safe from relegation.

Meanwhile, Shrewsbury were beaten 49-18 at leaders Luctonians seconds.

Market Drayton Ravens missed the chance to move back into the top half of Counties Two Midlands West (North) as they conceded a controversial late penalty to Shropshire rivals Clee Hill.

The Ravens were 21-19 up going into the final two minutes when the referee deemed the ball to have been handled in the ruck and Clee Hill nailed the winning points.

Drayton had fought back from 19-0 down to lead 21-19 through tries from Tom Minshall (two) and Dan Bolton.

Oswestry were thrashed 83-5 by high-flying Veseyans, with their only try coming from Dan Smart, while Cleobury Mortimer beat Bridgnorth seconds 28-19 and Newport seconds went down 34-12 at Burntwood.

Whitchurch seconds conceded their match at Counties Three Midlands West (North) to Trentham, while Bishop’s Castle & Onny Valley went down 34-20 at home to Stourport in Counties Four Midlands West (South).

n Clee Hill’s women, meanwhile, thrashed Stone 52-10 in Women’s NC Three Midlands (West) to go second in the table.

If they beat Silhillians in their next match on March 12, that would set up a title decider with Stafford – who they have already beaten this season – on March 26.