Preston Grasshoppers aim for their first double of the season this coming Saturday and in a bid to extend their unbeaten run entertain Midland side Stourbridge. Hoppers victory at Stourton Park back in October last year was their first there since their promotion season at the end of 1999 and ended a run of eight consecutive Stourbridge victories in this fixture.
The visitors have recovered from an indifferent start to the season and like Hoppers are unbeaten in recent games with a run of nine victories stretching back to early November whilst Hoppers have won two and drawn a couple in their last four outings.
Ally Murray will clock up 100 League games and 60 consecutive appearances for the 1st XV in his next game.
Stourbridge travel to Lightfoot Green with an eye on one of the top two places in their sights come the end of April due to their recent form together with Sedgley Park having something of a dip in form over recent weeks, all beginning with their defeat at the hands of Preston Grasshoppers just before Christmas.
Hoppers ended up hanging on for a draw last Saturday after dominating the first half and with little more of a cutting edge, would surely have had a win in the bag by the time the whistle sounded for the interval. They will reflect that the two points gained as something of a success over fourth placed Caldy, although the look on the players faces as they headed for the dressing rooms after the match told a different story.
Meetings between Hoppers and Stourbridge go back to the 24th of November 1973 in our very first season at Lightfoot Green. Hoppers ran out narrow winners that day by six points to three, before the return fixture at Stourton two seasons later when the home side recorded a comfortable victory.
The next meeting was the day after the annual Fylde Boxing Day match in 1986, the season before leagues were formed and both Hoppers and Stourbridge started their respective journey into league rugby together at level 4 in what was then titled the Courage Area League (North).
Olly Viney is due to make his 150th appearance for Hoppers in his next game.
The two clubs had stayed partners at this level until Hoppers promotion, a season when Stourbridge together with New Brighton and Kendal (who were promoted the following season) were Hoppers main challengers throughout, with a January twenty five points to ten victory at Stourton Park probably being the deciding factor.
Stourbridge finally gained promotion to what was then National 2 a couple of seasons later in what was to prove Hoppers final season at that level and until relegation four seasons ago, the Midlands outfit had maintained Level 3 status.
The all time playing record between next week’s opponents has Stourbridge having won sixteen matches to Hoppers twelve and the league record tells a similar story with eleven victories to Hoppers and thirteen to Stourbridge. The overall record includes a forty four points to nineteen Powergen Cup victory to Stourbridge during the 1995/6 season at Lightfoot Green, which until a couple of seasons ago was their biggest winning margin over Hoppers whilst a thirty two points to three victory in their promotion season was the Hoppers best effort.
Photographs by kind permission of Mike Craig.
