DROITWICH progressed to the last 16 of the EDF Senior Vase with a disciplined display at the Memorial Ground, overcoming Leicester Vipers 18-0.

The visitors had a big weight advantage in the forwards and used it to good advantage, driving the Droitwich eight down field on a number of occasions to win a succession of penalties.

However, once the ball was moved away from the forwards, the Droitwich defence was sound, with Craig Mortlemans and Matt Blackmore putting in some robust tackles.

When Droitwich did win the ball, a sharp break by Jonny Critchlow found Ross Coombes and Phil Horton in support and Vipers were forced to infringe. Fly-half Duncan Hughes kicked the resulting penalty.

The visitors looked to use their heavy pack, but excellent defensive work by Jon Andrews, coupled with the intelligent play of fellow veteran Nick Godfrey, kept the home side's noses in front.

The second-half saw Droitwich up the tempo, with strong running by Hughes giving the Spa side territorial advantage.

James Davies carried the ball well and set up James Shewell to feed scrum-half Steve Poke. Again Vipers infringed, and Hughes slotted the kick to double the lead.

Droitwich now seemed to be in control, but the slender six-point lead could not be added to as Droitwich came close on a number of opportunities, but could not quite find the score.

A fine diagonal kick by Blackmore found the lively Coombes to make ground. Captain Dean Goddard took the ball forward as did Andrews, before a well-timed pass by Hughes found the irrepressible Critchlow to crash over under the posts. Hughes added the simple conversion.

Vipers came back strongly, but they were unable to find any rhythm due to the excellent tackling by Davies and the Droitwich midfield.

A neat kick by Poke saw the outstanding Horton take the ball up the touchline to find Godfrey in support, before the visitors strayed off side.

Hughes kicked the ball to the corner and from the resulting line-out the pack drove towards the Vipers line for hooker James Protherough to get the final touch down with five minutes remaining of the game.

The last few minutes were played in the Spa half as the visitors tried desperately to get a consolation score, but the Droitwich defence held firm.

After the game, try-scorer Critchlow said: "Obviously we are very happy to be in the next round.

"We really played as a team with every single member of the squad contributing hard graft and total commitment."

Droitwich Under 15s racked up a huge 58-0 home victory against Rugeley.

The home team dominated a one-sided affair, with Adam Sutterby, Sam O'Brian, Jack Knight, Sam Cave and Joshua Sutterby all scoring first-half tries.

Oliver Swift added four conversions to give Droitwich a 33-0 half-time lead.

After the break, Swift grabbed a try of his own as well as a drop-goal, while Joshua Sutterby, Knight and Luke Topping all crossed over.