STONE are still alive and kicking – even though they have not played a game for three months.

The club's last outing in Midlands Five West (North) was on December 12, when they were beaten 50-6 by local rivals Hanford.

Since then, they have conceded five matches and had another postponed to remain pointless at the bottom of the table.

Stone have also scored just 14 points while conceding 365 – enough to knock the heart out of the most hardy of players – but club chairman Steve Galloway remains confident the club has a future.

He said: "We have had a number of postponements due to the weather, which has also made it hard for players to commit themselves to training.

"There have been times when we have not been able to raise a team due to injuries and the bad weather, but I am not panicking.

"I am sure we will pick up.

"We are experiencing the problems of all small clubs so there are never any guarantees, but there is a lot of commitment among the players we have.

"We also plan a number of activities in the off season to raise the profile of the club and help local charities.

"We have a nucleus of players, but a lot are knocking on a bit so we have to take their efforts away from the field of play and channel it into promoting the club instead.

"A lot of people in Stone do not know there is a rugby club in the town, so we need to raise our profile in the community.

"We do have a few younger players, but one of our aims is to develop opportunities for youngsters in Stone to play rugby.

"Schools in the locality do not play rugby, yet there are children who want to play the game. And we do have coaches who are qualified for that age group."

Stone have also been assured that they will continue to benefit from the facilities at Tilling Drive in Walton previously owned by Bibby's Sports and Social Club.

The company has been taken over by Nova Capital, but Galloway added: "They have no intention of kicking us off. We have reached an agreement with them to renew on an annual basis."

ECCLESHALL have hit the top of Midlands Four West (North) just in time to celebrate their 30th anniversary.

They are holding a black tie dinner at Baden Hall following Saturday's local derby at St Leonards and have former England and British Lions hooker Mark Regan as their chief guest.

Organiser Becky Davies said: "This is a big event for us and having a guest speaker like Mark Regan has attracted a lot of interest."

The owners of Baden Hall have also offered to show the England v Scotland Calcutta Cup match at Murrayfield on a screen in the bar before the dinner begins.

Leicester Tigers have presented the club with a signed ball from their Guinness Premiership game against Sale as reward for Eccleshall's work in promoting Tigers ticket sales.

It will be auctioned during the dinner.