Spartans 19

Alcester 6

For the second successive week Alcester ran out gallant losers against one of the league's top two teams.

But the result means Alcester will face a fight to preserve their Warwickshire One status.

The visitors were caught napping in the opening minutes, waiting for a referee's decision that did not come, and Spartans took advantage by driving towards the line with the lock forward plunging over despite several attempted tackles.

Even with this wake-up call, it still took the visitors time to settle, particularly once again at the scrum, which has proved their Achilles heel in recent weeks.

They were forced to defend to prevent the home side increasing their lead, but soon started to gain more and more possession as the scrum steadied.

Against the stiff breeze Alcester could not clear their lines and found themselves under pressure for much of the half.

Their defence was finally breached for a second time when the Spartans outnumbered the visitors and the inside centre to burst through under the posts before converting the try himself.

As half-time approached, Alcester enjoyed their best spell with no 8 Mick Weaver and centres Matt Gwynn and Brett Allard particularly impressive.

Alcester finally began to test the home line but had to settle for a Gwynn penalty after the referee had finally penalised the Spartans pack for deliberately killing the ball in the ruck.

Turning around only 14-3 behind, and with the wind and slight slope at their backs, Alcester started the half as they left off and Gwynn added another penalty in the opening minutes for another infringement at a ruck.

With a regular supply of possession, Alcester were now well on top, but never really threatened the Spartans line which was well defended.

They were dealt a blow when Weaver was sin binned for a trip on the home scrum half, forcing Alcester into rearguard action. They lost their momentum as an attacking force, and were unable to regain the upper hand, even when Weaver returned.

Spartans added a third try when the winger scored on the overlap.

Alcester 2nds slipped to a narrow 9-0 defeat at home while other results saw a 27-0 win for Alcester U14s at Bromsgrove with Alcester Ladies winning 24-5 at Moseley.