A TOUGH start to the season continued for Bromsgrove as they were crushed 54-17 at Leicester Lions.

Dean Ball's side's defeat last Saturday is their third in four games and means they have now faced, and lost to, both joint league leaders in Leicester and Kettering.

Things did not start well for Bromsgrove as Leicester, having been handed the opportunity to play with the wind by their opponents, ran in two tries inside the first five minutes.

From there, heads dropped and the hosts took complete control. They used the wind effectively and competed physically in every aspect of the game.

Town missed tackle after tackle and appeared to capitulate under intense pressure from the hosts. Bromsgrove's defence leaked try after try and at half time the Lions had scored six converted tries and led 42-0.

Coach Ball brought on Tom Churchill for Carl Bradley in an attempt to vary the lineout options and avoid humiliation.

Shortly after the restart Leicester resumed where they left off with a try. Bromsgrove then dug in and started to play with resolve.

They were rewarded with a Matt Birch touch down after new prop Dan Chesham had combined with Andy Bridge.

The visitors then managed to add two more tries - the first when centre Dave Wilkinson finished off an excellent passage of play, and the second when hooker Richard Arnold battled hard to take the ball over the line.

Birch kicked one conversion and the hosts scored another unconverted try before the end.

Bromsgrove host old rivals Luctonians this Saturday.

Luctonians lost at home narrowly 21-19 to Kettering last Saturday.