Cleobury Mortimer 7 pts Tenbury 10

BOTH teams had a blank Saturday with no league commitments and started off the second half of their seasons with a friendly local derby.

Although the going was heavy both teams wanted to play rugby and this positive attitude created an excellent contest devoid of the niggle generally associated with matches between neighbouring clubs.

Play moved swiftly from end-to-end with the ball being moved at every opportunity.

Battled well

Understandably, the forwards enjoyed themselves and the both packs battled well for possession in the loose and the set pieces.

Tenbury stand-in number eight Darren Kite, usually a strong running centre, made a couple of useful bursts but was held by good Cleobury defence.

However Tenbury edged in front mid-way through the half when flanker Andy Black broke off the back of a ruck after a series of driving mauls to open up the home defence.

Scrum-half Dean Jervis supported, and when Black was challenged he slipped a pass to Jervis who dived over for the opening try, fly-half Andy Yeomans just missing his wide-angled conversion attempt.

After the break Cleobury lifted their game with their fly-half Colin Smith kicking well and establishing good attacking platforms.

Tenbury again defended well and when play moved to the other end prop Joe Reynolds peeled off a ruck to drive over and extend the visiting lead, Yeomans again failing to improve the try.

Cleobury did not drop their heads and their persistence was rewarded when, following a series of rolling mauls saw them crash over, Smith adding the extra points.

The hosts tried hard to salvage the game but a determined Tenbury bagged a deserved win.