REDDITCH Rugby Club reeled off their third win in four games when they clung on at the death to beat Burbage 20-17 and climb off bottom spot in Midlands 4 West South.

Following a minute's silence in memory of former captain and club coach Ray Powell who died the previous day, Redditch hit the ground running and soon took the lead.

Lewis Saddington set Nathan Matthews free who opened up a massive hole in Burbage's defence before Barrie Forester-Smith snapped up the offload to brush aside several attempted tackles to score under the posts for Sam Gladwin to convert.

Redditch continued to hold the initiative but slipped up when they lost an attacking scrum and found themselves outnumbered on the left as Burbage bagged an unconverted try.

A penalty from Gladwin put Redditch 10-5 in front but they soon surrendered that advantage when Burbage intercepted a wayward pass to score their second try and convert to lead 12-10 at the break.

Burbage stretched the lead further when Redditch failed to clear their ranks and leaked a third try to trail 17-10.

The introduction of Josh Kearney reaped an immediate reward for Redditch who promptly finished off a crisp handling movement to score with his first touch of the ball.

Soon afterwards, another tidy handling move gave winger Mark Green the opportunity to out-sprint Burbage's cover to score what proved to be the winning points.

The closing stages proved the most tense, Redditch have faded all season but Burbage, who began the game in second place, tried in vain to claw back the four points.