BATTLING Bromsgrove dug deep to see off Newtown 5-1 after having their goalkeeper Alex Frazer sent off.

Matt Russell gave Bromsgrove the lead but they sat back and allowed the home side to hit back.

Frazer was ordered to leave the field for five minutes after being penalised for dissent.

This forced Bromsgrove to regroup and another strike from Russell along with goals from Joel Brace, Bruce Turner and Paul Yates secured the win.

Captain Julian Court said: "We had our goalkeeper sent off and that is when we really had to turn it up.

"We are second by a point and we would have taken that at the start of the season."

Goals from Carl Troth and skipper Alistair Shaw rescued a 2-2 draw for Bromsgrove seconds against Finchfield.

Bromsgrove were trailing 2-1 with five minutes to go, but Shaw's goal clawed them back into the game.

The seconds face Wednesbury on Saturday.

Droitwich seconds picked up their second win of the season with a battling 4-1 victory at home to Whitchurch.

Alex Harvey broke away early in the first half and scored a well-worked goal.

Whitchurch managed to work their way back into the game, but thanks to some good shot stopping by Neil Davies and three superb goals from the in-form Pete Best, Droitwich were always one step ahead.

Bromsgrove ladies head into their Christmas break on the back of another victory, defeating Bournville 3-1.

They completed the double over their opponents despite falling behind early.

Once play settled down Bromsgrove dominated Bournville with fast, incisive passing and running.

Town equalised when Charlie Cole passed to Chrissie Ashworth who set up Heather Nunnerley to fire home an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area.

Bromsgrove's second saw Vicky Powell win the ball deep in her own half, before beating several defenders while running 60 yards with the ball.

She sent it across to Tricky Burton who rifled home a first time shot.

Town went further ahead when Erica Reeves tucked the ball home following a goalmouth scramble.

Captain and goalkeeper Ange Burnet believes her side have come a long way this season.

"Our depth is improving illustrated by the fact Jules Hughes and Lucy Taylor came up from the second team and looked comfortable," she said.

"All of our goals today utilised training routines.

"This brings us to the half way stage of the season and after 11 games we have taken 28 points from a possible 33.

"Last season we only got 31 points in total.

"This shows just how far we have come and we know we have much more to give."

The goals flew in for Bromsgrove ladies second team who beat Bournville 6-2.

An early Bournville strike shook Bromsgrove into action and it came as no surprise when Sarah Gormley fired home a fine shot on the far post.

Town dominated the rest of the first half and thought they had gone ahead only for Libby Joss to have her goal ruled out for an infringement.

Sarah Gormley tucked away her second almost immediately after the second-half restart before Libby Joss's brace, while Jasmine Leigh and Jules Adams completed the victory.

Captain Anna Evans praised her side's attacking capabilities.

"We are a side who play great attacking hockey and when it goes well we are a match for any team in our division," she said.

"Once we find consistency week to week then we will be pushing closer to the top of the table.

"We are well ahead of where we were this time last year."