Woodrush 3 Redditch 0

A MARTIN Leach penalty was all that separated these sides as they kicked off their North Midlands (South) One season.

But it could have been a different story had teams taken their chances.

Leach slotted over his kick midway through the first half to hand Woodrush the points. But according to coach Matt Ellwell, the Wythall side should have added to the scoreline.

"Redditch held us up over the line five or six times in the opening minutes and then, at the end, we chose to kick penalties to touch because there was a strong wind against us," he explained.

"The tight five played really well for us and we had two players in prop Chris Buffrey and second row Dave Evans making their debuts.

"I'm absolutely chuffed because we have had a really good pre-season and this has given us a good platform on which to build."

Redditch skipper Stan Hull admitted his side were beaten by the better team on the day.

"They deserved to win it in the end even though a single kick was what separated the sides," he said.

Redditch fly-half Will Wilson was also missing and Hull believes his accuracy with the boot could have given the visitors a better chance.

"We missed a number of kicks including one in front of the posts whereas Will can normally slot them over from anywhere.

"We had seven players missing and of those playing, scrum-half Neil Hodgkins was the only one to shine."

n Alcester started their Warwickshire One campaign with an 18-13 defeat at Nuneaton side Manor Park.

It was cruel on the visitors though as they had opened up a 10-0 lead after 25 minutes.

Full-back Chris Hall nagged the opener with scrum-half Robbie Parker doubling the lead.

Andy Smith kicked a first half penalty to give Alcester a 13-8 interval lead only for Park to bag two late tries to claim the points.