Pershore III 7pts, Malvern IV 6

A COMPELLING encounter between local rivals brought reward for Pershore by the slenderest of margins.

An uncompromising opening saw Pershore gain a crucial early advantage. From an attacking position on the Malvern 22 metre line Brian Avery took a well timed pass at pace to crash through the opposition defence to score his ninth try of the season. Converted by Matt Stanway.

Despite this early success Pershore were struggling to find their form of recent weeks and for all their possession they were unable to capitalise further.

The second half saw Malvern make full use of a strong breeze, and they consistently put Per-shore on the back foot with some intelligent kicking.

This proved to be a real thorn in Pershore's side and in an effort to play from deep positions Pershore conceded vital penalties.

From two such instances the Malvern outside half calmly slotted them between the posts to set up a rousing last ten minutes.

Despite Malvern's efforts they were unable to breach a resolute Pershore defence. When all seemed lost for Malvern they were awarded a penalty adjacent to the Pershore posts.

Against the odds, the kick was missed, leaving Pershore to celebrate their third successive win. A victory they just about deserved.