MALVERN Rugby Club's joy at beating Bromsgrove 30-13 in a Worcestershire derby in Midlands West Two was tempered by a serious injury to number eight Mark Gaubert.

He suffered a double fracture to his ankle and is likely to be out for the rest of the season.

But Malvern redoubled their efforts and their victory keeps them three points clear at the top.

An Andy Longley penalty gave the home side an early lead and then a chip ahead enabled Longley to win the race to touch down.

Matt Birch pulled back six points with two successful penalties, but he also missed with two further attempts.

Paul Hart moved to number eight after Gaubert's injury and the Malvern pack, led by Vince Hill, took the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half.

Hart, Thomas and Longley set up a fine try for Dave Beech, Longley kicked another penalty and then joined the line to set up hooker Irish to score.

Longley converted and almost immediately worked a switch for Beech to go over for his second try, and although Andy Udy scored a soft try for Bromsgrove, they were a beaten side.

Pershore consolidated their place at the top of Midlands Four West South with a 16-8 win in atrocious conditions at Redditch.

A blind side move set Phil Shepherd away down the wing and he passed inside for Andy Watson to score under the posts, although Rob Haines failed with the conversion.

But a lapse in concentration allowed Redditch to score from a quick line-out, and a penalty saw them lead 8-5 at the interval.

Pershore took complete control after the break. A Haines penalty levelled the scores, and a fine break by Jem Richardson allowed Watson to score his second try. Another Haines penalty sealed victory.

Title challengers Droitwich suffered a real set-back when they went down 21-6 at Southam. It was the Memorial Ground club's second defeat of the season and puts them two points behind Pershore.

The visitors had led 6-3 at half-time through two Matt Blackmore penalties but fell away in the second period.

Evesham went down 44-7 to Stratford in Midlands Three West South, in a game switched to Stratford as Evesham's ground was unfit.