Tenbury 19 pts Upton-on-Severn 30 pts

UPTON scored an early try as the home side made a slow start, allowing the visitors to hold on quite comfortably to secure the points in the opening fixture in North Midlands (South) One,

Tenbury made a spirited comeback in the final quarter at Palmer's Meadow but it was to no avail.

Tenbury were barely out of the blocks when the visitors broke through to score a converted try in the opening minutes.

Remainder

After the early lapse, the remainder of the game was evenly contested.

For the next hour Tenbury enjoyed plenty of the possession and territory but were unable to match their opponents in terms of finishing and found themselves 30-9 down going into the final quarter.

Upton had crossed for three more tries, two of which stemmed from rolling mauls and converted one of them. Tenbury failed to pierce the Upton rearguard during this spell and had to rely on the boot of Andrew Yeomans,who was successful with three penalty kicks.

The final period was a different story.

The home side crossed for two wide tries following good handling movements. Richard Wozencroft was involved in both.

First he finished off a movement after Tenbury had turned the ball over in midfield, and then fed winger Paul Murphy who rounded off an attack started by Graham Evans.

Yeomans was unable to slot either of the difficult conversions. Despite losing, skipper Rob Phillips felt the game had been a good workout for this week's cup visit by local rivals Stourport.