Ledbury Seconds travelled to Redditch for this Merit Table fixture with some apprehension on Saturday.

REDDITCH II 5pts, LEDBURY II 17pts

Although Redditch had only three games under their belt, they hadn't lost any and from previous games, Ledbury knew it was going to be a hard-fought battle.

Ledbury lost the toss and Redditch chose to play up hill the first half. A great kick off by Toby Blandford put the home side under immediate pressure and it could be seen from the first scrum that Ledbury had the superior weight and strength to be dominant in the set piece.

The dominance of the pack gave a good platform for the backs to play some fast open rugby and Ledbury were soon rewarded with a try from fly half Barrett Price (unconverted).

The next ten minutes from the restart, though, saw Ledbury pinned back on their line but fine defensive play from the whole side prevented Redditch from scoring. The first half finished with just the one score.

The second half saw the same pack dominance from the Ledbury side even though they were playing up the slope.

The home side were soon under pressure on their line when a clearance kick was charged down and a try scored by flanker Matt Williams, converted by Price.

The backs continued to get great ball and moves were a plenty but they always missed the last pass to hand, or a forward pass was made losing the advantage leaving room for the come back from Redditch.

It wasn't long in coming, with good move of the ball down the line the Ledbury defence for once could not cope and Redditch went over in the corner (unconverted).

Ledbury took control again after this and another try from Matt Williams saw the final score 5-17 to the visitors.

This leaves Ledbury four clear points at the top of the Merit Table.

Tomorrow (Saturday) Ledbury are at home to Pershore in a friendly, kick off 2.30pm.