ALL-conquering Stourbridge were too powerful and too pacey for Caldy as the Wirral side suffered a fourth successive defeat in National Two North League last Saturday.

The game finished 55-21 to the visitors for whom it was a fourth success on the trot.

Caldy back on the main pitch enjoyed some bright moments, especially in the opening half, but they paid dearly for too many infringements.

Some of the refereeing decisions were contentious but to be fair, Stourbridge were superior in nearly all departments and had the ability to step on the gas when required.

Caldy never threw in the towel and could still hold their heads high. A first victory should not be far away.

Craig Ross opened the scoring with a well-taken corner try converted by Richard Vasey midway through the first quarter, but Stourbridge hit-back with two tries in as many minutes via Nile Decres and Stefan Shillingford both converted by James Hearn.

An interception try by Ross goaled by Vasey levelled matters on 26 minutes but Hearn touched down for the visitors and added a penalty to make it 14-22 at the interval.

Stourbridge added four further tries in the second period via James Rodley, Hearn, Matt Farrington and Sione Tuipulotu plus a penalty try. There were four more Hearn conversions.

Caldy, to their great credit, pushed the visiting pack over from a rolling maul for a try on the hour, credited to Chris Jones with Vasey adding the extras, but it was always going to be Stourbridge’s day with eight tries in all and a bonus return to show for their efforts.

Wirral continued their merry way in North One West League with a 55-23 victory in the cross-river derby at LSH.

It was a first ever success over the Liverpool side and Wirral sit at the head of the table.

Man-of-the-Match, Alistair Baker, touched down four times for Wirral. Craig Harvey, Colin Dyer, Matt Loon and James Annetts also crossed. Dan Harvey hit half-a-dozen conversions and a penalty for good measure.

Birkenhead Park suffered a first defeat at Kirby Lonsdale where they finished a man down after having Greg Hughes contentiously dismissed.

Adam Neal and Martin O’Keefe went in for Park and Dave Hall converted both and also landed a brace of penalties but the Lancashire side did just enough to win in a somewhat scrappy affair.

New Brighton produced another bonus earning performance at Ruskin Park where it finished 52-0.

The Blues sit at the top of South Lancashire/Cheshire One with four wins from four outings.

It was also a good day for Hoylake who returned 38-5 winners from Sefton.

Anselmians were in another nail-biter but this time were edged out 35-37 against West Park at Malone Field.

Port Sunlight claimed the Division Two derby at Wallasey but it was tense at 12-10.

Oxton Parkonians gained a 20-15 home win over Buxton in Division Three. Ryan Evans, Andy Smith and Terry Williams crossed the try line and Ben Salder was successful with a penalty and one conversion.

Prenton were much too strong for visiting Linley who were sent packing 79-8.

The Oldershaw v Helsby match was postponed and Ellesmere Port did not have a fixture.

Caldy face another big task this Saturday as they travel to high riding Otley.

Birkenhead Park and Wirral have home matches against Leigh and Broughton Park respectively.

Lower down the scale fixtures include Hoylake v Douglas (Isle of Man), New Brighton v Tyldesley, Winnington Park v Anselmians, Port Sunlight v Oswestry, Ramsey (Isle of Man) v Wallasey, Helsby v Ellesmere Port, Holmes Chapel v Oldershaw and Liverpool University v Prenton. Oxton Parkonians do not have a league fixture this weekend.