THIS year's RFU Junior Cup draw had put Upton into a position the club had seldom been in before, that of favourites.

UPTON 1st XV 27pts, BREDON STAR 12pts

Bredon, two divisions below the hosts, came into the game very confident after good pre-season preparation, and on the back of some shrewd signings. Upton has also had a fair pre-season but question marks still hang over a number positions and the overall strength of the side.

Despite this, Upton really knew there were no excuses for losing this game, something Bredon was fully aware of and therefore played with a 'nothing to lose, everything to win attitude'.

The first thing to go right for Upton was the decision by the Bredon skipper to play with the wind in the first half and therefore try and build a lead the team could defend in the second half. However, Upton's class showed in the first minute when from some loose ball at the back of the scrum, inside centre Huw Williams glided through the Bredon back line before putting fellow centre Brad Raymond clear. The powerful number 12 looked home and dry but good cover defence from Bredon almost stopped the try, but Raymond managed to ground the ball for an early 5-0 lead.

Despite this early set back, Bredon started to gain more control of the game as they used the wind to pin Upton in behind their 22 metre line. It was only terrific defence from the back line, particularly open side Barry Lancett, that continually kept the visitors at bay.

However, the relentless pressure, coupled with the strong wind in Upton's face, meant a score was inevitable as the Bredon right wing crossed to score under the posts. This gave Bredon a slender 5-7 half time lead.

Upton's half time team talk centred around using the wind to pin the visitors in their half and the apply the necessary pressure to build a lead. But as the wind almost completely dropped, this allowed Bredon to clear their lines easily.

Despite this setback, Upton did start to take control. Number 8, Rob Wynn broke from the scrum before feeding scrum half, Matt Mitchell who turned to support from his forwards. From the ensuing driving maul, Lancett scampered over for a try to make it 10-7

Soon afterwards, Heeley eventually found his kicking boots to add a penalty, but it was left winger, Neil Caldwell who sealed the win. Firstly he intercepted a midfield pass from Bredon's backs and then raced 50 metres to score under the posts, and in the last five minutes chased a long clearance from substitute Tether down the whole length of the pitch, managing to grab the bouncing ball to score his second try.

Heeley converted to give Upton a score of 27, which was only dented by a second Bredon try between Caldwell's two opportunistic second half bursts.

The end result reflected Upton's position above Bredon in the leagues, but still shows there is a lot of work to be done for the Worcestershire side ahead of the first league game at Tenbury tomorrow (Saturday).