MALVERN Rugby Club failed to turn possession into points as they lost their Midlands Two West (South) opener 14-7 at Berkswell and Balsall.

The Warwickshire hosts used their skills in the pack to give Malvern a hard time in the scrums.

They shaded the set-pieces but the visitors more than compensated in the loose and at the line-out.

The game was stop-start due to a high penalty count as Malvern were guilty of unnecessary offside decisions.

Despite playing uphill and into a strong wind in the first-half, Malvern looked the better side but suffered a major blow when Dan Batty went off with an ankle injury after 20 minutes.

Lacking any back replacements, Jack Longley went into the three-quarter line and Stuart Clarke replaced him in the back row.

Play was fairly even until the last 10 minutes of the half when Berkswell scored twice, first with a pushover following a line-out and then from close range after a ruck to lead 14-0 at the break.

With the conditions in their favour, Malvern should then have been able to stamp their authority on the game but the increasing penalty count and a seeming inability to run straight surrendered the advantage.

But they persevered and finally scored when Laurie Essenhigh strode in from 20 metres out with Ben King converting.

Malvern lost front row George Withers with a neck problem and seemed to lose their way but nearly equalised when Conor Giggle went over only to drop the ball before being able to ground it.

Despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession, Malvern seemed lacklustre with nobody seemingly able to take the ball on and dominate play convincingly.

Director of rugby David Irish said: “The lads know this game was there for the taking and that they squandered a chance to kick off the league season with a win.

“We need to work on reducing the errors, which cost us so many penalties, and also to work on dominating play more in the pack.

“However, it’s a long season and we can kickstart it with a better performance at Spring Lane against Droitwich on Saturday.”