Pershore 1, Redditch 1

RELEGATED Redditch were Pershore's opposition in the DTZ West Midlands Division One played at Evesham High School.

In a close, ill-tempered first half in the appalling conditions, Pershore were on the receiving end of the very physical approach of their young opponents.

Tempers became flared and culminated in the temporary suspension of Pershore's Brown and Redditch's Steve Cock midway through the half.

Pershore took the lead with magnificent goal from Hughes following good approach work by an unusually industrious Massingham.

The second half followed a similar pattern but Pershore's defence, with Gareth Rushton outstanding, held firm while at the other end Lisle and Crowley went close to extending the lead.

With the game into its dying seconds Redditch were awarded a fortunate penalty corner, which was eventually converted to give Redditch a draw they probably deserved.

Pershore travel to Market Drayton this weekend hoping to gain maximum points from one of their more distant fixtures.

Market Drayton 3

Pershore II 2

PERSHORE were disappointed not to take a share of the points from this competitive DTZ clash played in atrocious weather.

The home side were the quicker to acclimatise to the conditions and subjected Pershore to a series of raids for the first quarter.

However, the visitors weathered the storm and took the lead when Rob Curley converted a penalty, having being fouled by the Drayton keeper.

Unfortunately for Pershore this acted as a rallying call for the Shropshire men, who stepped up the pace to take the lead by half time with two goals in quick succession.

Pershore got a grip on affairs after the break, with Tom Handley and Gary Tucker competing hard in the midfield and Scott Attwood mopping up at the back.

They also began to test the home defence and were eventually rewarded when Alex Longhi reverse flicked a cross into the net, wrong footing the goalkeeper.

The last quarter saw both sides battle for the winner and a draw looked on the cards.

However, a clumsy challenge with five minutes remaining gave Drayton a penalty and the lead once again.

Despite being pinned in their own half for the rest of the match Drayton held on to the lead to end Pershore's unbeaten run.