Droitwich 52, Yardley 0

A fine first-half performance laid the foundations for victory as Droitwich began the defence of the North Midlands Shield in high-scoring fashion.

Spa, who are looking to win the competition for the third year in a row, were simply too strong for their bottom-of-the-table opponents from the Midlands Three West (North).

A four-try burst inside the opening 20 minutes ensured Droitwich put the game beyond the visitors.

William Baillon led the way with four scores, while Craig Mortlemans and Rob Poke, who also kicked a penalty and one conversion, bagged one each as Spa took a 35-0 lead into half-time.

The pick of the first-half tries was Baillon’s hat-trick score, which stemmed from quick line-out ball with excellent handling from Sean Walker and Matthew Barnes drawing defenders.

In recent weeks, Droitwich have been a much better team in the second-half, and have typically dominated.

With a comfortable half-time score, the supporters and coaching staff were looking for the home team to exert their authority.

Unfortunately this was not to be the case. Although comfortable, Spa never found that extra gear, and could only muster another 17 points.

Ryan Handley scored and converted a try, while Dan Wilkinson and Ian Young also touched down.

The highlight of the second-half was Handley’s individual effort, where he picked the ball up and showed great pace to sprint the 80 metres to the try line avoiding many defenders on the way.