STAND-IN Malvern skipper Jamie Anderson led by example with a storming performance to take his side thr-ough to the semi-finals of the North Midlands Cup with a 37-15 win over county rivals Bromsgrove.

Malvern made it a treble over their county neighbours as the pack again set up the platform for a day of open, running rugby in which Bromsgrove played a full part.

In perfect conditions, the Spring Lane forwards drove on from the start. Julian Lambert took the ball on and it was fed to Richard Fleming.

The tall centre used his strength to break tackles and then pop the ball to flanker Dave Hill for the opening sc-ore with only two minutes on the clock.

With Anderson firing up the pack, they responded by rucking and mauling for sustained possession and pressure.

Gareth Taylor went about his business with great efficiency, while Chris Smith and Nick Tisdale controlled the line-out.

Both sides were content to run the ball and, when Bromsgrove countered, it was winger Ben Lamb who ran Malvern out of trouble.

When the visitors put in a driving maul, Anderson used his strength to hold up the carrier, then Malvern put in two big drives in response, the second resulting in a yellow card for number eight Graham Gadd as Bromsgrove disrupted illegally.

As Malvern continued to pile on the pressure, they won a scrum and the ball was whipp-ed across the line for full-back Chris Hooper to join in the action and score.

Prop Shaun Lancett then dropped over following a catch-and-drive for his 21st try of the season.

Bromsgrove made a spirited start to the second-half and pulled back three points thr-ough a Kent Summerfield pen-alty.

Anderson then went on a rampaging charge, taking any number of defenders with him and fed the ball out for Tukia Muli to run the ball in from 40 metres, with Ryan Watkins converting.

Hooper spotted the opposition defence had poor cover at the back and put in a beautifully-flighted kick for George Roberts to collect and run in from 35 metres out.

Just past the hour mark, Malvern stole the ball at a Bromsgrove maul, King made the half break and Lamb collected to score.

At 32-3, Malvern brought on the rest of the bench players and, while they were still bedding in, Bromsgrove worked their way up field and scored a converted try.

That stung Malvern into a reply as Hooper chased a King kick and scored in the corner.

As the clock ran down, a spirited Bromsgrove counter- attack gave them another consolation score but it was the Malvern side that were thr-ough to the semi-final against Whitchurch.

David Robins, Malvern's director of rugby, was delighted with the comprehensive victory.

He said: "It was a great game for the crowd to watch in perfect conditions and well refereed.

"It's always good to win a local derby match but I was especially pleased in the manner in which it was won.

"Our pack had them reeling all the way through, led by a superb performance from An-derson, who has taken over the captaincy, while Hynes is hors de combat.

"He has done so with maturity and really led by example with some inspirational play. Julian Lambert put in perhaps his most tenacious performance to date, while Richard Fleming again played with confidence and stature.

"The standard of rugby we are currently playing is a tribute to our coaching team."