IF Bromsgrove First XI were to find themselves at either end of the table, fighting for promotion or battling against relegation, they will look back on Saturday's clash against struggling Penkridge and see exactly where it all went wrong.

Although this Birmingham and District League Division One game was not lost, a draw was unsatisfactory considering the Town side's recent performances.

With a heavy thunderstorm looming before the match, Bromsgrove elected to field first, intending to bowl their hosts out and waste no time in knocking off the runs.

This tactic appeared to work with Adrian Field (3-31) making early in-roads into the batting. Only Aussie professional Lathwell was able to attack, although his scoring options were limited.

After a slight recovery to 70-4, the introduction of Nick Davies (4-42) soon had the home side on the back foot once again. He bowled an excellent line and length and instigated a collapse to 99-8, but as the overs ticked by Bromsgrove slipped into cruise control and the game edged away from them.

Youngster Howles (16) batted well with Price (23no) to take Penkridge's score to a respectable 146-9 off their allotted 44 overs.

With a minimum of 37 overs to reach the target a Bromsgrove victory should have been the only outcome, but stand-in skipper Pope and Brown had other ideas.

Brown nagged away and removed Davies (eight) and Jerome Connor (two) while Pope put in a hostile spell and removed Campbell and Paul Duffy for ducks. John Duffy also perished for a low score leaving the Town in disarray at 38-5.

Zimbabwean recruit Jason Vaug-han-Davies, whose explosive batting has delighted his team mates this season, attempted to turn the game around single handedly.

He found an ally in Clive Bennett and between them the match almost swung back Bromsgrove's way.

With six overs remaining, 48 runs were required but Vaughan-Davis departed when trying to maintain the run rate for an excellent 59.

It was then left to club veteran Bennett (29no) to guide the tailenders through the final few overs to ensure a share of the points.

There are now just eight league games remaining and Bromsgrove sit in fifth position.

A promotion spot now appears unlikely but the Dolphin Centre sponsored side will look to consolidate their position as the season draws to a close.