MALVERN under 17s progressed to the semi-final stage of the North Midlands cup after comprehensively beating Droitwich 53-0.

The Spring Lane youngsters were slow out of the blocks, but eventually started scoring freely.

Good phase play provided Laurie Essenhigh with his first try by sniping around the fringes, which was then converted by Jack Travis.

Further territorial dominance ensured that Malvern comfortably led 38-0 at halftime after tries from Will Carter, hooker Jacob Hewer, a brace for Nathan Beasley Suffolk and two more for Essenhigh.

There was doubt whether the game would last much longer after half-time, but resilience from the Droitwich defence meant that they at least made Malvern work for their remaining tries.

Pressure finally told and, as a result of strong running up the middle, George Cox crashed his way under the posts for his first try.

Malvern found it difficult to break down the defence at times in the second-half and had to wait for a bit of quickthinking from skipper Essenhigh, who proved too quick again for the opposition backs and scored in the corner.

The home side finished on a high as Cox scored his second, after running through the defensive line.