Evesham 5pt, Kings Norton 7

EVESHAM suffered an injury time defeat at the hands of relegation rivals Kings Norton at home on Saturday.

Having led the whole of the game to lose in the last minute of a 47-minute second half was devastating blow to the side after the efforts they had put into the match.

Skipper Phil Parsons saw his clearance kick from under his own posts charged down by the Kings Norton defence and then the visitors' fly half pounced on the loose ball to score. He then added the conversion to seal the victory.

Parsons was earlier unlucky to see two first half long-range penalty attempts drop short and a second half attempt slip past the posts that would have otherwise sealed a good and much needed league victory for Evesham.

Playing with the wind at their backs Evesham pressured Kings Norton back into their own half for most of the first period.

Good scrimmaging and line-out ball meant that Evesham could take advantage of the elements but for some reason they couldn't quite convert their superiority into points until scrum half Chris Evis took a quick tap penalty and fed winger Paul Turpitt who cleverly went over in the corner.

Parsons failed to convert from the touchline and so Evesham took only a slender five-point lead into the second half.

Although they were playing into the wind Evesham spent a long period in the visitors half and had good opportunities to extend their lead but the final pass always never quite went to hand.

Centre Ian Hurley and brother and No 8 Chris were both held up short of the line.

Evesham's forwards performed well and in the last quarter produced some of the best defensive play of the season to keep the visitors at bay.

Unfortunately, they could get back in the visitors' half, and with the reshuffle of Evesham's pack following the departure of a dazed Mike Figgit at hooker, the scrummage became under greater pressure and finally that pressure told in the most unfortunate way.

The game was sponsored by Foxwell Instruments.

Evesham now need to pick themselves up for Satu-rday's crucial league encou-nter with Bedworth at home, kick-off 3pm.

Midlands Three West (South)

P W D L F A Pts

Stratford 13 12 0 1 476 105 24

Leamington 13 9 0 4 312 177 18

Keresley 14 9 0 5 288 242 18

Old Covs 13 8 0 5 299 198 16

Nuneaton OEs 13 8 0 5 281 250 16

Bedworth 14 5 1 8 239 236 11

Old Leamings 14 5 1 8 213 311 11

Evesham 13 1 0 12 153 305 2

Kings Norton* 13 2 0 11 83 520 2

*Points deducted.