HAVING reached the Midlands One promotion play-off stage courtesy of a stunning win at Hinckley, Malvern travelled back to Leicestershire but found the sleepy little village of Market Bosworth belied the reality found on the rugby field.

MARKET BOSWORTH 40pts, MALVERN 7pts

Malvern made a bright start, playing up a considerable slope and a couple of chances went begging as the Spring Lane outfit took play, in typical running style, to the big home side.

Having soaked up the initial pressure, Market Bosworth revealed their true colours after 15 minutes. A ferocious driving maul had the Malvern pack in disarray and the inevitable penalty was conceded to give the home team the lift they needed.

On 23 minutes another maul resulted in Malvern dropping illegally, the penalty to touch led to a catch and drive and the inevitable try.

From the restart Nick Smith was quickly on to the catcher, too quickly for the referee, who gave him a yellow card. While Malvern were down to 14 men, Bosworth made the most of their advantage and piled on the pressure with two more scores by the break for a 20-0 advantage.

With the slope in their favour in the second period, Malvern would have hoped to come back into the game. However, the pressure on scrum and lineout meant that the Bosworth back row and midfield stifled King's creativity and they were always lying in wait for Eastwood's angled breaks.

Bosworth went further ahead 10 minutes into the half from another driving maul before Malvern put together their best move of the match for winger Rob Young to score and Ott to convert.

The strength-sapping efforts began to show as tiredness crept in and Bosworth scored a penalty and two tries to complete Malvern's day of woe.

Although it was a sad end, Malvern's players could reflect on what had been a fairly successful season, with a second place in a competitive league and some notable performances.

Director of rugby, David Robins, although disappointed, said: "We were beaten by a better side on the day, well drilled, extremely fit and obviously receiving investment in the playing side, they will give several Midlands One teams a hard time.

"For us, we can reflect on a fairly good season, whilst rueing a silly defeat at Stafford which ultimately cost us first place and automatic promotion. Having said that, the team spirit has been tremendous, in no small part due to the inspirational coaching of Paul Essenhigh, who has sadly decided to call it a day. He leaves behind a fine legacy and goes with the gratitude of the players and members alike.

"We now look to rebuilding and another tough season with the likes of Broad Street and Derby coming into our division, plus a regenerated Barkers Butts."