CLEOBURY Mortimer's pre-Twickenham confidence took a knock as they lost 31-15 to Droitwich in their re-arranged Midlands Four West South clash.

Cleobury, who travel to rugby HQ for the Powergen Junior Vase final on April 9, had to chop and change because of injuries and unavailability.

With five regulars away on Chris Gittins's stage weekend and Willie Bache and Steve Morris carrying knokcs only the front-five and Colin Todd were in their usual places.

Despite the reshuffle, Cleobury led 3-0 through an early Allan Sheilds and looked to be fairlycomfortable.

But a 15-minute spell before half-time changed the game as weak tackling, a lack of cohesion and poor communication led to a Cleobury collapse.

Droitwich capitalised with four tries in quick succession, three of which were converted, amazingly turning a 0-3 deficit into a 26-3 lead.

The visitors added a fifth try after the break to make it 31-3 before the Mortimer men rallied to restore some pride with two tries and a conversion from the impressive Shields.

Cleobury will have the chance to exact their revenge in the reverse fixture on Saturday when they are expected to field a stronger line-up.