Droitwich 27 Edwardians 21

Midlands Division Four West (South)

A FIRST half try blitz made sure Droitwich claimed their biggest scalp of the season so far by defeating pacesetters Edwardians on Saturday. HOLD ON A MINUTE: Droitwich smother a Edwardians attacker

Droitwich scored all their points in a devastating first half performance which knocked Edwardians off the top of the table.

With the wind at their backs Droitwich pushed home their advantage. Paul Sweeney won a line out and drove forward.

The ball was passed to captain Nick Godfrey, who slipped it to Steve Poke when he was held on the line for the opening try.

Droitwich's players were piling forward and pinning Edwards back in search of another try.

Phil Horton collected a clearance, fed the ball to Jimmy Richardson - who set Leon Hopkins up for Spa's second try.

Droitwich's aggressive play was running Edwardians ragged and Ben Cottrell took advantage of some poor play to win the ball and set Will Bolton free to run in Droitwich's third try.

Godfrey added more misery to Edwardians when he touched down from a lineout, before Richardson powered in from 20-yards to score.

Spa's rattled opponents could only reply with two penalties.

In the second half Droitwich were forced to defend as their opponents tried to hit back. Despite two tries for Edwardians, determined defending by Dean Goddard and Gregg Garfield kept Spa's opponents at bay.

Director of Rugby Julian Bailey said: "We played exceptionally well.

"We were brilliant in the first half and got a good score. We knew we had to dig in the second half and we did it expertly.

"It's too early to say we are definitely on course for promotion, but if we can put results together then will be in the shake-up after Christmas."

l Droitwich entertain Derbyshire side Mellish in the next round of the Powergen Vase on Saturday (2.30pm start).

The side is in the same league as North Derbyshire, who Droitwich defeated in the last round of the Vase. Bailey is expecting the same side that defeated Edwardians on Saturday.

He said: "Everyone's fit and the competition for places has really lifted the whole team.".