LATE changes forced fairly major last minute changes to the Malvern line-up for this North Midlands Cup quarter-final.

CAMP HILL 28PTS, MALVERN 12PTS

Returning skipper Matt Richardson was forced to move to the unfamiliar role of hooker, whilst Aidan Ruddock showed his versatility once more by popping up on the wing.

Adam Dixon moved to full back whilst Chris Williams and Stewart Clarke moved up from the second XV.

On a fairly tacky Haslucks Green Road pitch, both sides struggled to put together any cohesive play and most of the entertainment came from supporters of both sides trying to interpret some of the match official's stranger decisions.

However, he wasn't wrong in penalising Malvern's persistent offending in defence and the home scrum-half punished the visitors accordingly with an 11th minute penalty. The early line-outs were a problem for Malvern, who conceded on their own ball, as did the scrum, hampered by the lack of a recognised hooker.

However, as the first-half progressed things gradually improved in the forwards until, faced with sustained pressure from side from Shirley, the yellow card was brandished for persistent offending at the breakdown and Phil Rawle took a 10-minute break.

Malvern raised their game and cleared the danger, then on the half-hour Ruddock showed incredible pace to break through for a fine try to take the lead for the visitors.

The Camp Hill number eight was yellow-carded but Malvern couldn't make the advantage pay and Camp Hill retook the lead with a penalty on the stroke of half-time.

The Birmingham side piled on the pressure with the advantage of the slope and Malvern were forced to defend for long periods.

They held out until the hour was up, but Camp Hill finally cashed in on their possession to score a converted try. With tails up, the home team entered a purple patch of 15 minutes, scoring two more tries, the first of which would have graced any arena.

Malvern showed their spirit in the last five, piling on the pressure until Williams broke up the wing to score and Ott put over a difficult conversion.