EVESHAM Rugby Club was well represented by players and committee at the annual Worcestershire and Herefordshire RFU dinner at Ledbury last Friday.

It was a double celebration for the Avon Street club as the second team picked up the W & H Second Team Merit Cup, while Chris Maritza was named County Player of the Season.

Maritza has played at county level for a number of years. Not only is he still one of the best prop forwards in the county, but he also holds the accolade of being Worcestershire and Hereford's leading try scorer.

Maurice Parkinson, captain of the second team, accepted the Merit Table Cup on behalf of last season's victorious team that won 12 out of 14 matches.

The guest speaker was Ian Beer, former England player and RFU President.

This season's campaign has started well, with four wins out of four and Evesham again find themselves sitting pretty at the head of the table.

Evesham played host to old rivals Pershore in a friendly last Saturday when they emerged winners by two points.

The visitors came into the match undefeated this year and were determined not to let their opponents upset their winning run.

Evesham, however, had other plans and they managed to convert early possession into points with a well-taken penalty.

Pershore responded with two well-worked tries and a conversion made it 12-6 at the break after another successful home penalty.

The second half saw Evesham step up a gear and they managed to enforce more control on their game, while driving forward in the rucks and mauls.

Their efforts produced three tries to give the hosts a comfortable cushion and they needed it as Pershore hit back with another converted score to make the final score 21-19 in Evesham's favour.