Pershore III 26pts, Warley II 14

WITHIN minutes of the first whistle Pershore knew that they were in for a tougher afternoon compared with recent weeks with the Warley pack making it difficult for the home side to embark on their running style of rugby.

Warley's large set of forwards worked well to bring any home advance to ground before the ball was kept alive.

Possession was even during the first 20 minutes but Warley made good forward movement with the use of an effective driving maul. However, it was Pershore who struck first when outside centre Andy Brown ran 35 metres and beat three Warley backs to touch down. Anthony Perks easily converted.

Warley were quick to respond as a missed tackle allowed centre Mark Johnson to score under the posts.

Five minutes later, a loose ball was kicked and chased by Mar-tin Brett who crossed the line near the posts and an easy conversion made it 14-7 to Warley.

Minutes before half-time, Pershore No 8 Wayne Stammers crashed over from a penalty to cut the gap to just two points.

With the loss of the referee before the break due to a pulled muscle, Pershore had to give up Perks to take on the role so that the game could continue.

The second half was a similar story to the first with the Warley forwards spoiling most of the home side's advances. How-ever, determination paid dividend with a good try from Andy Stuart.

Warley continued with the tactic of kicking over the top but good cover, particularly from newcomer Graham Spiers, kept them out.

The last try of the game came from after another good run from Brown with Carl Wilkins adding two conversions.

Pershore are back in Merit Table action at Kidderminster this weekend.