Alcester A .................................5

Tamworth 2nds .......................0

With most club members using the opportunity of international weekend to watch the Six Nations from the delights of the bar, Alcester fielded a side comprising of a mix of first and second XV players to host their Staffordshire visitors.

And although it was a 'friendly' fixture, the contest was hard fought and sometimes feisty.

Grant Skidmore, captain of the 2nds, skippered the side and elected to play down the slope in the first half.

And his team were soon on top territorially, opening up a five-point lead inside 10 minutes when they stole line-out ball before utility back Chris Hall went over with a typically smart finish.

The rest of the half was a fairly scrappy and even affair, where both sides cancelled each other out.

With the slope against them after the break, Alcester raised their game and continued to dominate without adding to the scoreline.

But they had to play out the game a man down after the referee singled out home scrum half Dom Skinner for a yellow card after one of a series of skirmishes - the main perpetrator from the visitors walking free.

Among those who shone in the conditions were stand-in lock Matt Bolton and back row forward Phil Birks. But the man of the match accolade was given to wing/utility back Owen Phillips who gave his opposite number a torrid time with some trademark powerful runs, and stern tackles when in defence.

l Alcester's juniors played host to Leamington on Sunday.

The u7s ran out winners by seven tries to five with Josh O'Connor scoring by running the length of the pitch. Jacob Hucker bagged himself a hat-trick while coach Peter Cook was most impressed with Dominic Armstrong's running through the middle of the pitch and awarded him Man of the Match.

The u8s played two matches. The first ended all-square at 8-8 while the visitors edged the second by 10 tries to six. Edward Johnson picked up the Man of the Match award with his good tackling and straight running.

The u9s put in a battling display with Leamington, a game that was scoreless at the end of the first half.

The second period saw the visitors grab an early try before getting on top to add two further scores.

Alcester finally hit back when Alex Tack went over for a consolation try while Max Skidmore was Man of the Match.

The u10s opened the scoring in their match when Connor Ashford escaped with the ball on the blind side to go over.

But the visitors forced their way back to go in at the break 3-1 and although Alcester hit back with tries from Evans, Tack and Ryan Skidmore, Leamington ran out the 5-4 winners. Ryan Skidmore was named Man of the Match.

The u12s played two matches. The first, against a strong Leamington side saw the visitors open up a 19-0 lead before having a player sent off for throwing a punch - an unusual event at this age. A converted Thompson try saw the final score 19-7.

In the second match, Man of the Match Spencer Lunn's try cancelled out an early Leamington score before Andrew Chung finished off an excellent back row move to put the home team 14-7 ahead.

Late pressure saw the visitors level the scores.