Earlsdon 27, Pershore 21pts

IT'S an old clich, but Saturday's league clash was definitely a game of two halves!

Earlsdon came out of the blocks sprinting and had two marvellous tries under their belts inside the opening ten minutes.

The first came from a mesmerising run from their centre who carried the ball through the middle of the park before releasing his winger to touch down.

Almost immediately from a set-piece, a dummy miss in the centre allowed the full back to ghost through and the visitors were 12 points adrift.

Pershore awoke from their sleep and careful approach work from their forwards meant they began to impose themselves on the game.

Adrian Hanson gathered his own kick ahead and, in the tackle, he popped the ball to James Martin who went in under the posts before adding the extra points.

This gave Pershore confidence to dominate up front for the next ten minutes, but cruelly they failed to take advantage.

The inevitable then happened when, from being on the back foot,, Earlsdon kicked downfield and a fortuitous bounce was gathered by a winger who touched down in the corner.

All of a sudden the hosts were in control and, from a line-out on Per-shore's line, they caught and drove ahead. The driving maul was good and the try followed for 22-7 at half-time.

It appeared a mountain to climb but the visitors showed character and belief to claw back.

The second half display by the forwards was immense and, from a succession of rucks, scrum-half Jules Lambert sprinted over and Martin converted.

Man of the match Ben Humphries soon latched on to a lovely pass from Martin to touch down with the provider again converting.

With time running out and Pershore going for the win, their opponents sealed victory with the last move of the match.