DROITWICH warmed up for the new season with a fine 20-17 victory at higher-ranked Bromsgrove.

Both sides used the occasion to try a number of combinations and give most of their squads valuable game-time.

The home side made the early running and pressured the Droitwich line but good defence, especially from James Davies, Phil Horton and the ever-green Nick Godfrey, kept the scores level.

But persistence did pay off for Bromsgrove as they squeezed over for a try after 15 minutes.

The visitors hit back, however, with scrum-half Steve Poke beginning to run intelligently with the ball.

Poke fed Davies who drove powerfully towards the line to find prop forward Dylan Jones in support to score.

Ross Coombes kicked the conversion to give the Spa side the lead.

Bromsgrove ran cleverly with the ball and well weighted kicks saw the young Droitwich backs show hesitancy in defence.

One such kick led to confusion in the Spa ranks, allowing the Bromsgrove winger to run in unopposed.

The Spa side were not to be outdone and a fine kick by Andy Vizor saw them gain ground. More good work by Godfrey led to Horton powering over.

Matt Blackmore, now on to orchestrate proceedings at outside-half, missed the tricky conversion but was successful with a penalty shortly afterwards.

Droitwich seemed to seal the game when a clever pass by Blackmore found Horton to once again power through the defence. This time, he fed Sean Walker to score.

Bromsgrove raised their game and, through a series of good kicks and fine handling, went the length of the field to pressure the Spa line.

Droitwich managed to regain possession but Blackmore’s clearance kick was charged down to bring the home side within a score.

The visitors managed to hang on to claim a hard-fought win that will give them a great boost ahead of the league campaign.