Berkswell and Balsall 21

Droitwich Spa 18

Midlands Division Four West (South)

DROITWICH Spa struggled to cope with a muscular Berkswell and Balsall side as they slipped to a narrow defeat on Saturday.

Spa's players were never able to compete with a powerful Warwickshire side, which took control of the game in the first half, despite a strong challenge as the game wore on.

Spa went into the match without props Matt Jupp and Gregg Garfield and the lack of extra power gave the home side the upper hand.

Director of rugby Julian Bailey was forced to use captain Nick Godfrey as emergency hooker, but he and James Davies in the back row produced strong performances despite defeat.

The visitors could not hold possession in the first half and s edged ahead with two penalties.

Droitwich did hit back when Ben Cotterell touched down and Pete Murphy converted two penalties to make it 11-6.

However, two late tries (one converted), both starting from lineouts, allowed Berkswell to take a healthy lead into the second half.

Spa hit back after the break and pinned Berkswell back in their own half. The hosts edged ahead with a penalty to make it 21-11.

Cotterell though handed his side a lifeline when he scored his second try of the game, after Droitwich hit the hosts on the break.

Spa have a friendly game at Redditch on Saturday.