Droitwich 3 Pershore 27

Midlands Division Three West (South)

INJURY ravaged Spa produced a gutsy performance - despite suffering a derby defeat on Saturday.

A young side, which was missing seven first team regulars, gave high-flying Pershore a fight.

However, defeat pushes the bottom side closer towards relegation.

Director of rugby Julian Bailey felt that many of the younger players drafted into the team could be the club's future.

He said: "All the young lads did ever so well.

"Considering that we had so many players out we gave Pershore a great game.

"It was one of our the best team performances this season."

Droitwich were missing key players such as Sean Walker, Gareth Knight, Jethro Tedman and Ian Cogan going into the game.

The absence told as Pershore comfortably scored four tries, with only Matt Blackmore scoring a penalty in reply.

Bailey said: "For 30 minutes in the second half we dominated, but we could not score.

"If we'd just had that extra little bit then it could have been a different result.

"Paul Sweeney was excellent for us in the second row also."

* Droitwich's North Midlands Cup game with Bromsgrove has been moved to March 5.