MALVERN Pirates entertained Worcester in their first North Midlands U17s League (South) at Spring Lane on Sunday.

MALVERN U17 PIRATES 0, WORCESTER U17S 29

Three first-half tries from their immense pack and two in the second half from their flighty backs were enough to give Worcester the points.

Early on, the sides were evenly-balanced and although Worcester were able to hold on to the ball, Malvern gave the county champions little room for manoeuvre, forcing them to kick for the corners.

Just as Malvern were beginning to get into their stride, a series of unforced errors offered Worcester an opening and the first seven points with a unstoppable maul from five metres.

The try took the wind out of the Pirates' sails and a poor restart handed Worcester the attacking initiative once again. But Malvern tackled and scrummaged effectively and it was halfway through the half that Worcester eased 14 points ahead from another strong drive.

Yet another poor start at the kick-off and Worcester elected to scrum, but this time the ball was turned and Malvern set-up a promising midfield raid just inside the Worcester 22. Worcester were penalised for not releasing and for the first time in the match, Malvern came close to the Worcester line. But the ball was fumbled and Worcester played the advantage to clear their lines with a kick back to within the Malvern 10-metre line.

Play remained inside Malvern's half, but just prior to the half-time break, the Worcester forwards ensured a 19-0 cushion with a pick-and-drive into the corner.

In the second-half, Worcester began to swing the ball wide, but the Malvern midfield responded well with excellent tackling.

However, with Mason and Reed removed from the field due to injuries, the Malvern back-row lost much of its potency and with Morgans and McCoy out of the Malvern backline the midfield defence was stretched.

Worcester found spare men on the over-lap to run-in two unconverted tries before the final whistle. The final score was 29-0 to Worcester.

Gary Tolley, the Pirates' coach, was unperturbed about his team defeat. He said: "Regrettably all our early work to contain Worcester, was undone by three or four unforced errors that gave them the upper hand early in the game and against such a class side, you will pay for these mistakes and find it very hard to recover.

"I was pleased with our performance today. All the boys were physically and mentally shattered after the match, which shows just how intense our efforts were."

Malvern Pirates visit Ledbury this Sunday for their second league match. Kick-off is at 11.30am.