WITH Bishops Castle 'crying off' from what was a scheduled fixture against Upton's seconds, the black 'n' whites opted for a hastily re-arranged pool fixture against Malvern Seagulls.

MALVERN SEAGULLS 14pts, UPTON II 29pts.

Despite the score line, this was an evenly fought contest throughout. Driving runs from Upton's front five pierced Malvern's defence on a number of occasions, but then let themselves down on occasions by some lacklustre rucking. At times, Malvern proved the more dogged, but failed to turn the game to their advantage.

Upton dominated throughout with good set play. The lineout particularly worked well for Upton. The match marked a welcome back for second row John Kitchener, who scored a try and, who has lost none of his skills jumping at number two or in open play. Overall, it was Upton's experienced pack that created a platform for scrum half and captain Dai Hodges to capitalise upon.

Hodges said: "We didn't let Malvern off the hook once and really took the game to them.

"Our front five were tremendous and Rob Wynn at number eight showed his ability and pace around the park with hooker Mark Symington providing superb support play."

Hodges linked well with fly half Dave Patterson, who provided some dazzling runs, to run in two tries. Bryan Gidley, at outside centre, also scored arguably the best try of the game. Other scores came from substitute, Tim Dodge.

Dave Hill, who had moved to the unfamiliar fullback spot, was also on kicking duty, converting two tries.