UPTON opened their North Midlands One (South) league season with a visit to last season's third-placed finishers Kings Norton.

KINGS NORTON 18pts, UPTON 15pts

New skipper Oli Jones won the toss and decided Upton should play into the gale first. With only seven 'old heads' starting the match, it was going to take time for Upton to settle in and gel.

When Norton went into a six point lead with two penalty kicks by Clarke after 20 minutes it confirmed it was going to be a long afternoon for Upton, especially against Norton's much bigger and stronger set of forwards.

Due to the strength of the wind play was confined to the Upton half for long periods but gradually Upton got to grips with the elements and worked the ball up-field through the strong running of the backs with Brad Raymond and Alex Pimlow being particularly penetrative.

After 30 minutes, right winger Chris O'Neill scored Upton's first try when the Kings' defence was over-stretched after being unable to clear their line on the other side of the pitch.

Upton soon came close to scoring a second try when once again the backs caused mayhem and were only denied by the touchline with five metres to go.

Kings decided to keep the ball tight for the last five minutes of the half and worked the ball up to Upton's line. Despite some resolute defence Upton finally conceded a push over try by Saddler and the half ended with Clarke's conversion for 13-5.

With the wind now behind them the second half saw Upton's young team start to mature and show their mettle. The line-outs were dominated, there was strong drives by David Hunt, Jerry Wheeler and Russell Price and fierce cover tackling by Oli Jones and Brad Raymond. With precise kicking by Rob Heeley and adventurous running by Alex Pimlow and Chris O'Neill, Upton looked good.

Upton took the lead on 65 minutes after Rob Heeley had first kicked a penalty and then following Kings' poor restart, Heeley put up a 40 metre chip and as Kings stood and watched the ball bounce between two players, Alex Pimlow nipped in to collect the ball and score under the posts and Heeley converted to make it 13-15.

Kings Norton brought on fresh legs and again reverted to their strength in their big forwards who worked the ball close to the Upton line. A wayward pass was seized on by O'Neill who raced up to the halfway and when challenged he punted the ball towards Kings posts. He followed up and only an unlucky bounce denied him another try.

With time running out, Kings Norton had the last say when Upton just ran out of cover defenders and Butcher scored in the corner for a final score of 18-15.

Tomorrow (Saturday) Upton 1st XV travel to Leicester to play a Powergen Junior Cup match against Old Newtonians and the 2nd XV are due to be away to Tenbury.