THE captain's curse struck again at Alcester at the weekend when stand-in skipper Paul Clarke was ruled out by a knee injury.

Hooker Dickie Moore took the armband, becoming the fourth Kings Coughton skipper this season.

And Moore saw his side lose 13-3 to runaway league leaders Earlsdon despite being helped by a series of questionable refereeing decisions.

Injured club captain Andy Flynn criticised the official who had stepped up several levels for the fixture as part of the refereeing exchange programme.

"He was out of his depth, he would have been more suited to refereeing our thirds," said Flynn.

"The two worst refereeing performances we have had have been under exchange officials.

"To be honest, the guy probably was a leveller who did more harm to Earlsdon.

"Our lads were laughing it off at the end but the Earlsdon players were not happy."

Flynn is faced with a familiar crop of injuries for the friendly visit of Evesham Seconds on Saturday (ko 2.30pm).

Utility forward Mick Weaver is out for another fortnight with a back injury and Owen Phillips, who only rejoined the club after Christmas, is out for a month after the recurrence of a hamstring problem.

Holidaying flanker James Doyle returned at the weekend and scrum half Taffy Handley is hoping to return against Evesham after kidney stones.

Prop Ian Oliver came off with a neck injury at the weekend but is hoping to come back on Saturday and winger Sam Vernon returned for the Earlsdon match after being sidelined for a month with an ankle problem.

Saturday's defeat leaves Alcester two points behind Claverdon, who sit just above the relegation zone, but with a game in hand.

Worryingly for the Kings Coughton side, Rugby St Andrews, the team immediately below them, closed the gap to two points with a weekend win.

And Flynn admitted it would be better for Alcester if Redditch were relegated from the Midlands Four West South rather than any of their Warwickshire-based rivals.

If three Warwickshire sides came down, three teams would be culled from Alcester's division.