REDDITCH scored early against North Midlands 1 leaders Veseyans but injuries to the squad took their toll by the final whistle.

The home side bagged their try after 13 minutes thanks to a fine individual run by Andy Irvine which was chipped through for Grey to touchdown.

But things went downhill for Redditch soon after with wing Mark Smith and centre Mark Morris both leaving the field with injuries on 20 minutes. This saw a reshuffling of the pack with No 8 John Holt into the backs.

Redditch continued to play well and conceded just a solitary try in the first half to leave the score locked at 5-5 at the break.

But Veseyans wasted little time in taking a 10-5 lead early in the second half as more injuries struck Redditch. Scrum half Wilson left the field with a re-occurrence of an old ankle injury and hooker Austin left with a neck problem.

It meant more reshuffling was needed with another back row player, Richie Venn now joining the backs and Colin Bryant joining the front row to leave three props up front and the home side down to 14 men.

They bravely held on for as long as they could but the extra man eventually told with Veseyans running in four unanswered tries.

Redditch need some good news on the injury front ahead of their league game against Cleobury Mortimer on Saturday.