WORCESTER women's firsts finished the first half of the season with a 3-3 home draw against Stratford in Midlands Feeder West.

The seventh-placed city side, two points and one position below their rivals, started brightly with prolonged pressure but Stratford won a penalty corner from a quick break to score against the run of play.

Worcester remained positive and equalised through a well-taken one-on-one with the keeper from Holly Smith.

Stratford regained the lead off a penalty corner but the hosts equalised again in similar fashion through Smith.

Smith's run and well-timed pass led to a Tash Rose finish for Worcester to lead 3-2 at half-time.

They continued to pressure Stratford in the second period and created many opportunities they could not convert.

Stratford equalised midway though the half and despite continued pressure Worcester could not get the winner their play deserved.

The seconds continued their winning ways and remained second in Worcestershire League Division One with a 5-1 victory over Harborne thirds thanks to Lucy Merrett (2), Jo Baggs and Helen Davenport (2).

Worcester fourths crashed 16-0 to leaders University of Birmingham fifths despite showing plenty of effort and team spirit.

The bottom-of-the-table men’s firsts went down 4-0 at third-placed Birmingham University seconds in T1 Midlands One.

The first half saw periods of pressure from the hosts but they were unable to break the resolute Worcester defence down.

But towards the end of the period a quick counter-attack led to a penalty corner and the opposition scored after the initial strike.

Worcester were under pressure for long periods after the break and found their defence penetrated more frequently to make it 3-0.

As tiredness crept in the error count went up and with a player sin-binned Birmingham exploited their advantage to complete the scoring.

Worcester men’s seconds drew 1-1 at Barford Tigers in the T2 West Midlands Premier with a Jeremy Drake strike and the thirds went down 3-1 to Warwick in the T3 South West Premier despite a goal from Dave Lewis.

The fifths beat the fourths 2-1 in front of a large crowd in South West Two with a brace from Dylan O'Kane countered by Tom Lewis' goal.

Worcester sixths lost 4-1 at Solihull Blossomfield thirds in South West Three with Andy Hares scoring and the sevenths had a much-improved result but lost 3-1 to Bromsgrove fourths as Andrew Pritchard netted.

The reformed mixed firsts team beat South Gloucester 4-2 with goals from Helen Barnes (2), Matt Gardner and Lyndsey Beynon.

Worcester's girls under 16s impressed at Banbury but lost 5-2 after scoring two penalty-corner goals in the first half.

They worked hard and retained possession well as the scoreline did not really reflect the match.

Worcester have seven men’s, four women’s and two junior teams playing on a Saturday along with a midweek veterans and many junior age group sides.

They are looking for more players of all ages and standards. To find out more visit worcesterhockey.co.uk.