Upton are stranded at bottom (From Malvern Gazette)

Upton are stranded at bottom

8:10pm Monday 11th March 2013 in Rugby

UPTON-upon-Severn remain stranded at the bottom of Midlands Two West (South) after a 44-12 home defeat to title-chasing Old Laurentians.

The Old Street side are six points off Shipston-on-Stour with four games remaining of a tough season which has produced just two league wins so far.

Missing 11 first teamers through injury or work commitments, Upton were desperate to avoid a repeat of the painful 81-0 thumping inflicted by the second-placed side in November.

With the sun shining, Upton restricted space and their visitors'

free-flowing game by keeping the ball tight up front to initially enjoy the upper hand.

But fly-half Tom Bryant was off target with two early long-range penalties and Old Laurentians piled on the pressure.

Despite Upton’s dogged defence, they were consistently penalised by the referee for infringements at the breakdown with four penalties making it 12-0.

The visitors scored their first try when Bryant broke and tried a cheeky chip over the top only for the opposition winger to collect and go over. Immediately from kickoff, Old Laurentians went wide and scored a second try which was converted.

However, Upton's heads never went down as teenage debutants Rich Clive and Jake Lee excelled at open-side and scrum-half respectively.

Guy Field was sent to the sin-bin for pulling a maul down and the resulting penalty was kicked to the corner, leading to a try which increased the half-time advantage to 31-0.

But the second period saw a storming performance from Upton who, despite conceding a fourth try, were tenacious in all departments.

They scored through prop Charlie Abbey, who burst through three tackles before the try of the match.

Bryant kicked an up-andunder from just outside Upton’s 22 and the ball fell kindly for the hosts.

Second row Jason Smart, Chris O’Neil and centre Matt Dunwell combined before wing Martin Muleko raced clear from 22 metres to score.

However, Max Macfarlane was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle and Old Laurentians scored a fifth try to complete the scoring.