BROMSGROVE RFC First XV marked their return to Midlands One with an emphatic 29-0 victory over Coventry-based Broadstreet.

Although not the best performance, a large crowd at Finstall Park last Saturday witnessed sufficient quality to leave them quietly confident for the season ahead.

Dean Ball's team was largely unchanged from last season but included new signings Mike Lammas and Paul Meadow, with Ben Eason and Dan Ott making a welcome return.

The hosts started confidently and immediately dominated in the forwards through both the set scrum and the line out, where Tom Churchill and Jon Taylor outclassed their opposite numbers.

Before long Steve Philips crashed over for the opening try and Matt Birch converted.

Bromsgrove looked capable of running away with the game but Broadstreet mounted a stout defence and Town's finishing was not clinical.

Fighting back against the run of play, the visitors were awarded two kickable penalties. The first missed completely and the second bounced off the upright back into play.

Bromsgrove then turned up the heat and pieced together excellent passages of driving play between forwards and backs, one of which leading to a penalty that Birch duly converted for a 10-0 half time advantage.

The majority of the second half was played deep in Broadstreet's half, with Bromsgrove's forwards putting immense pressure on the visitors in the scrum.

Continual pressure led to a penalty attempt missed by Birch but Bromsgrove did not let up and Richard Arnold soon scored a try from a driven maul, which Birch converted from near the touchline.

Skipper Dave Clark then scored from a similar move further out and Birch converted for 24-0.

With Jim Brearley and Carl Bradley on as substitutes, Bromsgrove maintained the pressure and the finest try of the game was scored from a typical break from a set scrum.

Andy Bridge fed to Nick Copson, who fed Richard Stockholm on the wing and he stepped on the gas to round his opposite number, covering 25 yards to make the final score 29-0.