THIS North Midlands Cup quarter-final was always going to be more difficult than it appeared on paper and so it proved.

MALVERN 34pts, LEDBURY 30pts

Local rivalry added to the intensity of the game, especially as Ledbury fielded two ex-Malvern players, second row Matt Williams and full back Ryan Milne.

Malvern started brightly, controlling the game through their powerful forwards and a driving maul in the second minute saw hooker Dave Irish ground the ball for the opening try. With Malvern full of running, Eastwood and Richards in the centre making good ground and setting the ball up for the pack, and almost identical score came five minutes later, Irish again the scorer.

Sam Hardcastle made a couples of trade mark breaks as Ledbury were still coming to terms with the pace of the game and when Lancett went over for the third Malvern score in the 12th minute, Hardcastle converting, it looked as though a cricket score might be on the cards.

However, the Malvern players had obviously lulled themselves into a false sense of security and took the foot off the pedal. Milne bagged a penalty for Ledbury in the 16th minute and slowly Ledbury began to come into the game. Poor tackling saw them into Malvern territory and testing the home defence, Milne popping over a drop goal, then centre Pickering, his speed belying an ample figure, carved through some pathetic defending to score a deserved try which Price converted.

Suddenly, Ledbury were back in the hunt at 17-13 with their tails up, and more sloppy work by the hosts saw them concede both ground and penalties and hooker Wragg squeezed in at the corner to give the Division Three side the half time lead.

A dressing down from coach Andy Cushing at the break saw Malvern start the second half with more purpose Hardcastle switched to the wing and George Blakeway came on at scrum half. Nick Smith and Andy Ridley made their back row presence felt and Malvern camped out in the Ledbury half for the first 20 minutes of the half. Dave King grounded the ball to retake the lead for Malvern, who then started to spread the ball a bit more, making use of Sam Hardcastle's burst of speed to go further ahead

Malvern kept hammering away at the Ledbury defence, which was taking a pounding in their own 22-metre area but it held firm. Malvern made wholesale changes, using all their replacements but this appeared counter-productive, disrupting the rhythm of their play. A Ledbury drop out was charged down but the winger gathered and left the chasing Malvern defenders in his wake during a 60 metre run in to score and the gap was back to four points and Malvern were looking decidedly edgy as Ledbury were in full cry.

Malvern clawed back into away territory and were awarded a penalty, five metres out. Opting for the scrum, they popped the ball to Hardcastle who was in unstoppable mood and zipped through to score, Jenkin converting. With a nine point lead and 10 minutes left, Malvern made the mistake of easing off again, and Ledbury tenaciously fought back, winning a penalty from which Pickering scored his second of the day Price converting, to give the home crowd a jittery last few moments. The relief on Malvern faces was palpable at full time, blown after a Ledbury attack came so near to snatching a last-minute shock.

David Robins, Malvern director of rugby, said "It was typical cup rugby and we scraped the win, but we aren't happy about how we didn't bury them well before half time. Ledbury were primed for this match and never let up over the 80 minutes - we had the best of the opening quarters of each half, then sat back. Some really sloppy tackling compounded this and players diverging from the game plan we had formulated. We should have been spreading play wide much more but a lack of understanding in the midfield meant that we took ball back into the forwards far too often. We lacked a killer instinct today. I must give full praise to Ledbury, who have some very talented young players in their ranks. Their attitude did them credit and they showed a lot of heart.

"We now must prepare for a big league match against Whitchurch next Saturday. League results saw two of our closest rivals beat the top two sides unexpectedly, which puts pressure on us to win all our remaining games to ensure we stay up in this league. Whitchurch came to us in a cup game unprepared after having thrashed us in the league a week before and we beat them. They won't be making that mistake again, so we must prepare for 80 minutes of attrition and ensure we play to our strengths."

Kick off is at 2.30pm at Spring Lane, after the official opening of Malvern's newly refurbished changing facilities.