Longton were without key players, Pete Wilshaw and Gaz Rawlings but their replacements stepped up to mark a sterling display to beat Stourbridge Lions by 51pts. to 15. at Trentham Fields. Whereas their pack has been the mainstay for much of the season it was the backs who really shone in this game withwingers Cameron Adderley and Marc Dougherty were in sparkling form with good support from the rest of the back division. The match started with a superb try from Darryl Banton who caught a clearance kick some 40m. and then swerved and sprinted his way through the defence to score a brilliant try which was unconverted. However, with the match 10mins. old Stourbridge scored two unconverted tries to goahead by 10-5pts. The Longton supporters feared the worst but a few minutes later Marc Dougherty was fed the ball down the left wing and he used his speed and power to score superb try in the corner. Grant Hallam converted for Longton to go ahead by 12-10pts.With 18mins. gone Marc Dougherty scored again down the left; the conversion failedbut Longton were now 17-10pts. up. The Longton backs were now playing with increasing confidence and greater fluency not seen all season. The bonus point try came on 22mins. and with 30mins. gone, with the front row well in charge of the scrums a pushover try was scored. The conversion from Grant Hallam made it 29-10pts. In the last 10mins. of the half Stourbridge came back strongly into the game and in the 43rd. minute scored a try from a lineout; the conversion missed and half-time arrived with Longton leading by 29-15pts. Longton started the second-half playing down the slight slope and they pinned the visitors in their own half. They started to reap the benefits of their pressure soon scoring an unconverted try to go 34-15pts. ahead. Then, Marc Dougherty made a superb break down the left from some 50m. out crashing through three attempted tackles before scoring under the posts. Grant Hallam duly converted to make the score 41-15pts. As the light began to fade Longton added two more tries to round offa fine performance with a 51-15pts. victory.Marc Dougherty was voted Man of the Match but there were many fine performancesby most of the team with Rich Thompson being superb at the lineout. Adam Ridge made some telling breaks from No.8 filling in well for Pete Wilshaw. Darryl Banton and Grant Hallam continued their good partnership at half-back and the centre pairing of Joe Hall and Charlie Rushton Gelled well