Malvern u14s 22, Stow-on-the-Wold u14s 22.

MALVERN made all of the running in the opening period but kept the attack far too narrow to get past some tough Stow tacklers.

The first Malvern attack with any width nearly yielded a try when Whiteman was only just held off on the left wing.

Stow countered but made little ground, leaving them exposed to another Malvern break on the left wing, which was finished by Curtis.

Having found a winning formula, Whiteman soon got his name on the scoresheet with a try that was duly converted by Batty. This gave the home side a 12-0 lead.

After working so hard to build a convincing lead, Malvern pressed the self-destruct button. A catalogue of missed tackles and unforced handling errors combined with lost defensive shape, as players watched the ball rather than looking to mark out an opposing player.

This allowed Stow to score 10 unanswered points in a game that Malvern could have closed out in the first 30 minutes.

A formidable passage of play from the pack yielded the ball to in-form scrum-half Richardson, who passed to Carpenter to power through for a try.

Having regained the lead, Malvern managed to sustain long periods of possession but were unable to put together any meaningful yardage gains, as their backs opted to take the ball inside rather than stretch the width of the Cotswold side’s defence.

Stow eventually won the war of attrition and managed to put over a try to make it 17-17.

Malvern responded and regained the lead through a Hayes try but were unable to contain the visitors’ attack, conceding an equalising try in the final minutes.

Having been overrun by Cheltenham on the previous weekend, it was clear Stow wanted to make a point in this match and their hunger for the game was obvious.

Malvern u15s 5, Evesham u15s 19.

MALVERN suffered a home defeat to Evesham at Spring Lane.

From the start, Evesham kept the play in Malvern’s half, forcing them to concede a penalty after two minutes. In the seventh minute, the visitors surprised Malvern when they won a scrum on half-way to unleash Ben Townsend to run half the length of the pitch and score under the posts. Jamie Coles converted. Malvern were not long in replying and, from a penalty for Evesham’s technical infringement, ran the ball the full width to overlap the visitors and touch down. Evesham’s Kieran Jones and Townsend scored a late try apiece.