NORTH Midlands Under 19s continued their impressive start to the season with a 31-20 victory over Middlesex in an entertaining encounter at Dudley Kingswinford.

North Midlands proved their resilience by withstanding a fightback that saw Middlesex pull level at 17-17 midway through the second-half.

Flanker Bruce Thomas (Stourbridge) led the way for North Midlands with two tries.

The others came from winger Adam Slaughter (Bromsgrove), centre Perry Pudge (Ludlow and Moseley), scrum-half Luke Ward (Sutton Coldfield) and hooker Shaun Earlem (Worcester).

Centre Tom Bissell, of Dudley Kingswinford, converted five of the tries.