Pershore 7, Malvern 0

PERSHORE netted seven of their weekend's 11 goals as they blasted their way to the top of the second division hockey table.

Malvern tackled well and broke quickly but the hosts took the lead early on through Toby Maclaurin who finished off a short corner routine involving Gareth Rushton, Rob Curley and Richard Lisle.

Pershore continued to attack but over inventive play, greedy ball handling and a series of magnificent saves by the visiting goalkeeper brought no more goals.

It was a different tale after the break when Lisle broke down the right and squared the ball to Rushton on the penalty spot, who made no mistake.

As Malvern tired, Pershore pressed further and were rewarded with five more goals, two for Scudamore and Whiting and one for Rushton.

Pershore 4, 0 Aston University 0

SUNDAY'S rearranged outing saw Pershore again take an early lead through Russel Scudamore before a spectacular brace from Peter Boyce made it 3-0, the second of which was a superb solo effort.

The second half was a more sedate affair with the youth of the opposition handling the second game of the weekend better than the home side.

Goalkeeper Stewart White was untroubled as the defensive prowess of Andy Taylor, Andy Wright, Tommy Han-dley, and Rob Curley kept the opposition at bay but the latter was forced off the field with a suspected broken arm.

It was left to Scudamore to wrap up a profitable weekend with his side's fourth goal and leave the leaders as worthy winners.

P W D L F A Pts

Pershore 4 4 0 0 17 2 12

Stafford 4 4 0 0 14 4 12

West Bromwich 4 3 1 0 22 3 10

Newtown 4 3 0 1 25 3 9

Kynoch 4 3 0 1 24 5 9

Standard 4 2 1 1 3 3 7

Ludlow 4 1 0 3 12 9 3

Aston Univ 3 1 0 2 3 9 3

Atherstone Adds 4 0 2 2 3 9 2

Berks & Balsall 4 0 0 4 3 12 0

Malvern 3 0 0 3 2 33 0

Ludlow II 1, Pershore II 4

FOR the second successive week, Pershore had a player drop out just before the start but they went on to win in convincing style.

A strike from Mark Pass-more gave them the early lead before two short corners from Iain Rushin made it 3-0 before half-time.

Ludlow managed to put some pressure on the visiting defence in the second half, but only scored courtesy of a deflected shot.

Chris Doughty, making his second team debut, scored Pershore's fourth to crown a promising display on an afternoon when the win lifted the winners into the top three.