Redditch 12 Church Stretton 12

JOSH Holt scored the winning penalty as Redditch saw off Church Stretton to win the North Midlands Vase Plate in a tense final.

With the teams locked at 12-12 at the end, the game was decided by a penalty shootout from 20 yards, with Holt putting away the decisive kick after Stretton’s scrum half had missed his.

Redditch had started the game with furious intensity as Simon Fitzpatrick and Oliver Stokes had come close but Jack Duffy crashed over to open the scoring.

Church Stretton responded well by scoring two tries to power into the lead.

The Kingfishers began the second half strongly and after piling on the pressure, Gareth Davies levelled the scores.

The last 20 minutes were tough as fatigue set in and Redditch lost the influential Duffy, who was injured in the latter stages and had to be sent to hospital and subsequently missed the wild celebrations.

Captain Mark Green and coach James Shotbolt gathered their troops on the halfway line to watch what could have been five penalty attempts on goal from both teams. The tension was unbearable as the Church Stretton scrum half snatched his first kick, but Holt held his nerve in the windy conditions to prompt wild celebrations.