Ledbury and Pershore both battled hard in a fierce local derby last Saturday, with the temperature reaching a sweltering 80 degrees in this Midlands Three West (South) encounter.

PERSHORE 22pts, LEDBURY 16pts

Ledbury started the better and were rewarded early on with three points from the boot of the prolific Barrett Price. For the next ten minutes Ledbury took control of the match and debutant Will Green almost sneaked in at the corner.

The last 20 minutes of the first half belonged to Pershore as they scored two tries. Barrett Price sunk another penalty on the stroke of half time to take the score to 12-6.

Ledbury showed some fire in the beginning of the second half and Barrett Price nailed another penalty to further reduce the deficit. From then on the game never really flowed, the heat taking its toll on both teams. A penalty kick from James Martin further increased Pershore's lead. Ledbury started to gain some momentum from this point and new boy Jarrett Osbourne dived his way over the line for a try under the posts, which Barrett Price duly converted. Ledbury's lead lasted a mere two minutes as Pershore created an overlap to score in the corner. They led 22-16 with seven minutes to go. Ledbury tried to stage one last attack but couldn't breakthrough the Pershore defence, and Pershore hung on for a hard-fought victory.

It was a disappointing result for Ledbury but coach Rob Collins was adamant about the number of positives that could be taken from the game.

Collins said: "The set pieces went well in particular and the experience of Darren Handy and the youth of Terry Bees proved a great success. The team as a whole performed well but more match time is required for us to gel."

Ledbury face old foes Silhillians at Ross Road tomorrow (Saturday) in what should be an absorbing encounter. Kick off is at 3pm.