Berkswell & Balsall 20pts, Evesham 5

EVESHAM hit the road last Saturday with high hopes of building on the previous week's success.

However, they found their hosts in tenacious mood as they crashed to a disappointing defeat.

The Avonsiders elected to play against the elements and the slope and they were soon up against it.

They challenged well in the set-pieces through Dave Scott and Tim Webb but it was in the tight phases where the Bs found success.

After a hopeful punt downfield, Evesham saw a clearance kick charged down for the first try to the home side.

The home half-backs used the breeze intelligently to pin their opponents back in their own half for long periods of the first half.

Evesham's defence was superb, especially Luke Matthews and Will Bailey but the pressure told and the home side drove over for a second unconverted score.

They quickly followed up with another similar score to leave the visitors trailing 17-0 at the interval.

Evesham gained some territory and possession after the restart with Luke Matthews outstanding all afternoon and receiving good support from Michael Hodges.

The visiting side pounded the home line but just couldn't get the response that their efforts deserved.

However, a superb line out move finally unbreached the defence and created a chance for Matthews to power over for a consolation score.

The Warwickshire side then landed their only points of the second period from a penalty but it was their first half efforts that eventually divided the teams.

Midlands Four West (South)

P W D L F A Pts

Solihull 15 14 0 1 451 101 28

Worcester Wdrs 15 10 0 5 388 181 20

Keresley 15 9 1 5 255 227 19

Edwardians 15 8 1 6 233 242 17

Old Halesonians* 15 8 0 7 252 251 14

Evesham* 15 6 2 7 269 246 12

Berks & Balsall 15 6 0 9 116 224 12

Marconi Coventry 15 5 0 10 225 330 10

Southam 15 5 0 10 174 339 10

Manor Park 15 2 0 13 123 345 4

*Points deducted