Kings Norton 33

Handsworth 7

KINGS Norton maintained their challenge for league honours with a hard-fought victory against a spirited Handsworth side.

Snow made for tricky conditions before the break but it was the home side who broke the deadlock on six minutes with a Ken Whitehouse penalty.

Kings were applying all of the early pressure and it was the fly-half who kicked his second penalty 15 minutes to extend the lead.

The basement boys, who struggled to break out of their own half, fell further behind when Whitehouse kicked a third penalty only for Handsworth to shock their hosts with the first try of the game. A number of long clearance kicks resulted in their mobile pack driving over the line for a converted try.

But Kings skipper Matt Eagles rallied his troops and the final minute of the half saw him go over following an impressive move upfield.

Prop Richard Revell added his name to the scoresheet soon after the restart but the home side were then forced to defend as Handsworth looked for a way back into the game.

The final scores went Kings way with a penalty try which was converted by Whitehouse who then finished off the move of the match himself to touch down under the posts for a personal haul of 18 points.

Kings Norton take on Bournville in the North Mids Vase on Saturday.

Evesham 15

Redditch 10

REDDITCH put in a battling second half display but still returned from Evesham pointless.

The home side eased into a 15-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes before the visitors came back into the match.

Missed tackles proved costly as high-flying Evesham ran in their three tries, Redditch's only first half score coming from the boot of Jamie Rodden who kicked a late penalty.

But it was a different story in the second half as skipper Stan Hull's side dominated the play.

Edwin Grey went over with 30 minutes to go, Rodden adding the extra points, and Redditch then piled on the pressure in search of a match-winning score.

Hull said: "The players were disappointed because they thought they had done enough to win the game.

"We played really well and we were camped in their '22' for most of the game."

Bredon Star 6

Woodrush 6

A PENALTY in each half from Toby Smith earned Woodrush a share of the points at Bredon.

But coach Matt Ellwell thought his side would have been heading home with a victory had some of the refereeing decisions gone the way of the Forhill side.

He said: "Every time we looked like scoring he would blow his whistle and bring play back."