PROMOTION-chasing Evesham returned to winning ways to edge a tough Coventrians side 10-3 in Midlands Four West (South), despite the visitors’ bottom-of-the-table status.

The hosts started brightly, moving the ball with purpose and cutting strong running lines.

Early pressure resulted in the visitors infringing at the breakdown and Sam Hopkins kicked the penalty.

But that was where the first-half excitement ended, as constant scrums ensued until the break.

In the second period, Evesham looked to tidy up, protect their own ball and execute more clinically.

After a scrum in the middle of the pitch, fly-half Michael Diston placed a deft chip over the oncoming defence and Sam Huckvale gathered before finding centre partner Ashley Icke to run home.

A simple conversion from Hopkins stretched Evesham’s lead to 10-0.

With Evesham unable to push on, the game slipped back into a routine of scrum restarts and lost rhythm.

Coventrians attacked late on and kicked a penalty in reply after Evesham infringed at the breakdown.

With the visitors boasting big strike runners, the later stages proved testing for Evesham, but their defence remained strong.

However, lessons need to be learnt after a below-par display with second-placed Evesham four points in front of Claverdon ahead of Saturday’s visit to Coventry Welsh.

Meanwhile, fourth-placed Pershore beat lowly Upton 41-14 in a Midlands Three West (South) county derby and visit title-chasing Bedworth on Saturday.

Bredon Star crashed 43-5 at Gloucester Division One leaders Longlevens, despite scoring the first try, and host basement boys Old Colstonians on Saturday.

In youth rugby, good discipline and strong defence helped Evesham under 16s to a 20-10 home win over Droitwich, completing the double after a 25-19 away win in December.

Both teams played fast rugby but Evesham especially shone in the line-out and scrum, with player-of-the-match Lewis Woodford shining.

Number eight Jack Richardson went over after 13 minutes with a determined attack, followed shortly by Ryan Scarrott dancing his way past three players.

Droitwich scored down the wing, but Evesham’s George Guy burst through to go in under the posts and make it 15-5 at half-time.

Guy, Connor Armento and Jonny Deakin halted the Droitwich backs with their tackling, backed up by Ashley Allchurch.

The second-half was a battle with the wind and rain, but captain Richardson managed another try before the visitors scored on full-time.