MALVERN put up a good fight but eventually went down 40-29 to the professionals from Reading at Spring Lane.

After 30 minutes, a period of Reading pressure saw them take the lead after a scrum close to the Malvern line. But the Spring Lane side responded when Gaubert broke free in the Reading 22-metre area, sprinting for the line and feeding Hill for the score. Longley made the conversion.

Both teams used a squad of around 25 players and were substituting every 20 minutes to assess the summer's progress.

The third quarter, with Reading's big guns all on the field, saw Malvern go off the boil, and three relatively soft tries saw the Berkshiremen stretch ahead before adding a further score at the beginning of the final period.

But Malvern were not out-classed with captain Longley rousing his players for a determined reply. Strong tackling, good support play and speedy recycling of the ball saw a period of incisive rugby that Reading found difficult to match.

The visitors then scored their final points before a late Malvern rally gave them two late tries.

Malvern Director of Rugby David Robins said: "This was a worthwhile exercise against a very experienced side. Our first-time tackling was a as good as I have seen and our commitment and heart was excellent."

Malvern's season begins with a home tie against Newport on September 2.