MALVERN'S Seconds travelled north on a fine Saturday afternoon, buoyed by their battling win against Tewkesbury the previous week.

REDDITCH 31pts, MALVERN II 17pts

They were undone by an experienced home side well versed in the use of their sloping pitch.

From the off, Redditch played to their strengths and the conditions, getting the nudge on in the scrums, and mauling down the hill.

Malvern, aware that their turn to play with the slope would come, tried to absorb the pressure and limit the home side's opportunities. But when a tapped ball was shipped to Redditch's burly inside centre, he broke through to score under the posts for a seven pointer.

This first score was quickly followed by two further tries for the home side, both converted to put Malvern 21 points in arrears.

A strong passage of play from the visitors put them to within ten metres of the home line, and when the ball was popped to number eight Pete Sharpe, his powerful charge carried him over to open Malvern's account.

The visitors continued to press, but when spilled ball was turned over, the host's backs linked at pace to score a try in the corner.

Turning to face downhill in the second period, tries duly followed. First fly-half Adam Dixon then centre Andy Burns took turns to finish good attacks, Dixon converting Burns' effort, but despite maintaining the pressure in the set piece and in the loose, they were frustrated by a series of missed chances as the final pass failed to go to hand.

Taking advantage of the award of a penalty, the hosts caught the defence flat-footed to cross in the corner with a quick tap and drive.

Malvern continued to press, and when Burns charged through several tackles to close on the line, his pass to wing Ben Hughes, running well in support, missed its mark and the chance was lost.

The hosts ran down the clock to secure a deserved win.