PERSHORE won their Midlands Three West (South) derby with Evesham, edging a 6-3 victory at Piddle Park.

It was an extremely hard-fought, physical clash on Saturday and the result owed much to the power of Pershore's forwards. Pershore's lineout proved to be a crucial weapon, taking Evesham ball on five occasions.

However, it was in the scrummage that Evesham suffered. The front row of Nigel Hardiman, Blair Hunter and James Smith gave their opposite numbers a torrid time ably supported in the engine room by Martin Hope and Dave Roscoe.

It was a match, despite the scoreline, which entertained the crowd and for all their possession, Pershore were never allowed to dominate. Evesham looked dangerous on the counter attack, but both defences were excellent. Robin Haines kicked two penalties for Pershore and Chris Eves one for the visitors.

n Droitwich's recent run of good form came to an end on Saturday when they lost 13-12 at home to Southam.

Droitwich failed to secure quality lineout ball and constantly lost loose ball, but scored two good tries and only had themselves to blame for Southam's points. Two needless penalties gave Southam a six point lead, before poor tackling allowed them to score under the post.

Droitwich worked hard for their two tries by Gareth Knight, playing out of position in the second row, and Paul Bowditch. Although, ultimately this was not enough to defeat the hard working visitors.