Pershore 22pts, Droitwich 0

AFTER convincing wins over Silhillians and Leamington, Pershore are now on a roll and Saturday's emphatic defeat of Droitwich emphasised that point.

From start to finish the game was played at a frantic pace and the match provided a great advert for county rugby.

Pershore stamped their authority on the game from the start as their forwards won a succession of rucks across the whole width of the pitch that stretched the Droitwich defence.

From a ruck close to the line, No 8 Martin Hope picked up and wasn't going to be stopped. James Martin added the difficult conversion.

PL:50shov.jpg:Which way now?: Pershore's Brian Hirons prepares to fend off a Droitwich tackler

The match didn't go all Pershore's way as for ten minutes Droitwich found themselves camped in the home 22 where resolute defending and excellent scrummaging kept them out.

Pershore then re-established control in Droitwich's half and were rewarded with a James Martin penalty, on his 21st birthday, to make it 10-0 at half- time.

The second half saw the hosts seize control again with their forwards squeezing the life out of the visitors as they adjusted play either from rucks or rolling mauls.

Levin Widmer excelled in the line-out, stealing plenty of Droitwich ball on their own throw, while the rampaging Carl Evans and Nigel Hardiman were prominent in the loose.

The match was ended as a contest when captain Andy Watson smashed his way through an attempted midfield tackle to touch down under the posts. Martin converted again.

PL:Hanging on: Pershore's Martin Hope gets halted in his tracks by a Droitwich player

On the stroke of the final whistle, Jeremy Richardson, who completed Pershore's highly impressive back row, collected a wayward Droitwich pass and outsprinted the covering defe-nce to touch down in the corner to cap a fine team performance.

Midlands Three West South

P W D L F A Pts

Stratford 11 9 1 1 326 140 19

Old Covs 10 8 0 2 237 125 16

Droitwich 11 8 0 3 267 171 16

Leamington 10 7 0 3 168 147 14

Old Leams 11 6 1 4 186 172 13

Pershore 11 6 0 5 187 176 12

Camp Hill 11 5 0 6 191 149 10

Silhillians 11 5 0 6 195 174 10

Shipston 11 5 0 6 142 135 10

Ledbury* 10 3 0 7 189 245 4

Southam 11 1 0 10 85 392 2

Keresley 10 0 0 10 81 228 0

Midlands Four West (South)

P W D L F A Pts

Solihull 11 10 0 1 406 150 20

Earlsdon 11 10 0 1 305 142 20

Old Yardleians 10 7 0 3 329 161 14

Marconi Cov 10 6 0 4 137 107 12

Berks & Balsall 10 6 0 4 164 144 12

Old Haleson 11 6 0 5 200 189 12

Evesham 11 5 0 6 214 204 10

Edwardians* 10 4 0 6 171 253 6

Brum Exiles 10 3 0 7 138 240 6

Dunlop 11 2 0 9 107 327 4

Worcester Wd* 10 3 0 7 229 203 2

Trinity Guild 11 1 0 10 86 356 2