DROITWICH eventually managed to subdue a stubborn Berkswell and Balsall side at the Memorial Ground to maintain their push for Midlands Three West (South) promotion with a 36-20 success.

The Spa side seemed to take an age to get out of the blocks, by which time Berkswell had scored a try in the corner to take the lead.

Droitwich did then get their act together, with a fine long kick by Matt Blackmore, which saw centres Jonny Critchlow and Ross Coombes create pressure for scrum-half Steve Poke to squeeze over in the corner.

More strong work by second rows Matt Jupp and Paul Sweeney saw Critchlow break forward to find Blackmore in support to crash over and give Droitwich the lead. Fly-half Duncan Hughes added the conversion.

The home side then tried to run the ball from their own 22, only to gift possession back to Berkswell, who used the blind side intelligently to level the score. A penalty by each side ended the scoring for the first period.

The second-half saw Droitwich up their game, creating pressure in the Berkswell half, before the ever-alert Hughes intercepted a loose pass to gallop 40 metres and give the Spa side the lead again.

Berkswell hit back with a try but, crucially, the simple conversion was missed to leave Droitwich with a slender two-point lead with 15 minutes to go.

The home side managed to find another gear and a good line-out take by Sweeney was driven 15 metres by the Spa forwards before Nick Godfrey peeled off to score. Hughes added the conversion.

Phil Horton made good ground to set up one more attack for Blackmore and Mark Strut to make good yardage. A long pass was thrown to Critchlow who cut through the defence to score and put the result beyond doubt.

Droitwich Under 15s slipped to a 15-11 defeat at home to Ledbury. The hosts put the first points on the board when Sam Cave touched down.

Oliver Swift then added a drop-goal to the Droitwich score. Ledbury then opened their account with a try in the corner.

The second-half began well for Droitwich as Swift slotted a penalty, but the visitors replied with a penalty of their own.

As the final few minutes were ticking down, Ledbury pressed the Droitwich line and charged down a defensive clearance to run in for a converted try.

From the restart, Droitwich pushed Ledbury back to their own line but could not manage to cross over.