Upton on Severn 15

Redditch 22

REDDITCH proved they have what it takes in the North Midlands One after grinding out a result against high-flying Upton and continue their march at the top of the league.

The Kingfishers started brightly putting their hosts under pressure which was converted into the first score after three minutes.

Redditch forced an Upton error, allowing Wil Wilson to score a penalty.

Redditch continued the scoring with a glut of penalties but let Upton back into the game five minutes before the break when the centre outstripped the Redditch defence to run in an individual try, which was converted.

The score gave Upton a 10-9 lead at the break but the slim point advantage wouldn't last long.

Stern words were given to the Kingfishers at half-time which must have got through to the men in blue as two minutes into the second half Redditch forced a penalty close to the Upton line.

Neil Hodgkins took it quickly and ran in for the score which Wilson converted.

Two injuries forced changes for the Redditch pack as Johnson and Barnett came off but two more penalty scores took Redditch's lead to 10-22 and almost out of sight.

However, Redditch lost concentration on the last play of the game and let the Upton pack in for an unconverted try.

Redditch team manager Steve Moore said: "Upton proved that they are a hard team to beat on their own patch and gave us a good test.

"Man of the match was Joe Alekna who showed some good attacking strength."

Redditch return to the fixture pool next week as they have a two-week break from league action.