DROITWICH turned in their most fluid display of the season to beat Bedworth 22-3 at the Glyn Mitchell Memorial Ground in Midlands Three West (South).

The early exchanges were even, but Droitwich were penalised for not releasing after a tackle and the visitors kicked the penalty.

Duncan Hughes levelled the scores with a penalty, before centre Matt Blackmore slotted a drop-goal.

The home side were now raising the tempo, with backrow forwards Nick Godfrey, Phil Horton and Jon Andrews leading the way.

Slick handling involving Craig Goode, Steve Poke and captain Dean Goddard saw the Spa side advance up the pitch and send Craig Mortlemans in to score.

The second period continued in the same vein with Droitwich becoming more and more confident and only good defensive work by Bedworth kept the home side at bay.

A clever kick by Sean Walker sent Droitwich deep into the Bedworth 22. The visitors managed to put Ross Combes into touch, but from the resulting lineout a strong drive saw Godfrey power his way over.

Droitwich seemed to take their foot off the gas, but still managed to produce some excellent rugby with Horton to the fore.

Hughes added two late penalties to put the game beyond Bedford's reach.

Blackmore said: "This was our most complete display of the campaign to date.

"Hopefully we will continue in this way and have a real purple patch."

Droitwich travel to Kings Norton next week to play the second round of the EDF Energy Senior Vase.

n Due to a bye into the next round of the North Mids Cup, Droitwich under 15s were given the opportunity to test their early-season form against a new opponent in Old Patesians.

The two evenly-matched teams battled hard throughout the game with Droitwich edging the verdict 29-27.

Old Pats began well scoring two converted tries, but Droitwich hit back with scores of their own from Sam O'Brian and Luke Tupping. Old Pats then scored a third try just before the half-time.

The second-half saw Alex Knudsen score twice, while O'Brian also grabbed a second score. Same Cave was on target on both occasions.

The Cheltenham side responded with a drop goal and an unconverted try.

Both teams pressed hard during the tense final minutes, but no more points were added to the score.