Stow II 12, Evesham II 18

EVESHAM completed another successful season in a friendly at Stow where they always face a tough challenge.

Playing with the wind at their backs, Evesham kicked well for territory. With the line out and scrum working well pressure was applied at what looked like a weak midfield defence.

The first score came Evesham's way through a well taken line-out, the ball was shipped to the centres where a lovely miss move opened the way for Mike O'Loughlin to straighten and score close to the posts. Ric Taylor slotted the extras. This was followed by a penalty by the same player to increase the lead to 10.

The Avonsiders continued to pressure the Stow line, and when the ball was spun wide John Chalmers entered the line from full-back, spotted a gap and sped through to score an excellent try. Taylor just missed the tricky conversion but made amends shortly after with another penalty to further stretch the lead to 18.

A combination of Evesham taking their foot off the gas and Stow raising their game made for a much closer game. Stow's fly half had worked out Evesham's weakness - the high ball. It was from one of these that a nasty bounce fell kindly for a Stow player to touch down. The conversion was successful and the home side's tails were up.

The second half was no spectacle, with the visitors making silly mistakes and Stow only content with kicking the ball. The only score of the half went to the Wolders to make it a nervy last few minutes, but Evesham showed just why there are current merit table champions, and on the verge of retaining the crown, holding out to secure their 25th win of the season.

Evesham are delighted with the form of the young players who have come through the ranks this season; some games have been played with as many as six Colts players.