DROITWICH'S season ended in defeat as they went down 28-18 at home to Aston Old Edwardians in the North Midlands Shield semi-finals.

The hosts were missing several regular players, especially in the forwards, and struggled to contain the strong Aston pack.

Droitwich went ahead when scrum-half Steve Poke threw a fine dummy to go over unopposed. Duncan Hughes slotted the conversion.

Hughes added a penalty shortly afterwards.

The visitors hit back to score in the corner and added a difficult conversion. Hughes replied with a well-struck 45-metre penalty.

The second-half started badly for the town as they failed to clear their line, allowing the visitors to score again and take the lead.

As the game wore on, the heat took its toll on both sides and errors began to creep in.

But Aston used their forward superiority and, after a period in the Droitwich 22', they scored again. That seemed to put the match beyond doubt but the home backs produced excellent attacking runs with Ross Coombes especially effective.

A sharp break by Sean Walker found prop James Shewell in support to crash over.

With time running out, Droitwich threw caution to the wind and opted for all-out attack. A loose pass in midfield was seized upon by Aston to race home and score.

"We gave it everything against a side from a higher league but could not quite get the scores," said Droitwich's Ben Cotterell.

"This brings to an end a remarkable season which we have all enjoyed."

n Luctonians were denied the opportunity to successfully defend the North Midlands Cup when Midlands Two West side Solihull deservedly won their semi-final encounter 15-13.

Lucs' points came courtesy of a try from Charlie Meredith and two penalties and a conversion from Brett Prior.