DROITWICH returned to winning ways with a strong and determined 27-22 victory at Berkswell in Midlands Two West (South).

With the slope and wind in their favour in the first-half, the visitors started brightly and benefitted from the return of skipper Phil Horton, who was back after a long lay-off with a dislocated shoulder.

After a good break by Nathan Broderick, Droitwich set up an attacking line-out. The Spa side claimed the ball and veteran Nick Godfrey, making his first start of the campaign, showed all of his experience to dive over. Bobby Scott-Walker added the conversion.

A neat pass by Steve Poke saw Horton surge forward, he was supported by Alex Bull, before Matthew Jupp was on hand to crash over. Scott-Walker again added the extra points.

Two well executed penalties by Scott-Walker stretched the visitors’ lead, although not before the home side had snatched an opportunist try.

In the second period, Droitwich knew they had to up their work rate despite the 15-point cushion.

Strong defensive tackling by Rob Poke, Russ Brown and the hard-working Alex Saddington kept Berkswell at bay, but the hosts did manage a second score.

This seemed to rally the visitors as Simon Pearce ran strongly to link with the tireless James Davies, whose well-timed pass found Steve Poke to show some nimble footwork and race over to score.

Scott-Walker added the conversion that appeared to put the game beyond doubt, but the home side hit back with a strong drive to score and create a nerve-jangling last five minutes for Droitwich.

The young Spa side were, however, up to the challenge and held out for an important victory and step on the road to avoiding relegation.