Whitchurch 13 pts Luctonians 5

LUCTONIANS' Midlands One championship hopes were dented as Shropshire rivals Whitchurch built up a 13-point lead interval and then held on for a deserved victory.

Third-placed Luctonians made far too many elementary handling errors and gifted possession to their hosts.

Whitchurch took full advantage and built up a useful lead with tries from James Dunn and Guy Stringer, and a penalty from John Canny.

Luctonians came back into the game well after the restart but their only reward was an unconverted try from last year's leading try scorer Andy Garrod.

This defeat was a set-back for the north Herefordshire side as the leaders Bedford and second-placed Kettering both won.

On Saturday Luctonians will need to be on their mettle when they entertain North One leaders Bradford and Bingley at Mortimer Park with the clubs battling for a place in the Intermediate Cup quarter-finals.