Ledbury took advantage of the international weekend to field a B team for this friendly fixture on Saturday but, greeted by a strong 21-man squad, they knew they would have to work hard to get anything out of the game.

TEWKESBURY A 27pts, LEDBURY B 6pts

From the start the Ledbury pack took up the gauntlet and a combination of good rucking supported by the boot of Alex Worboys set up good field position.

Sustained pressure led to penalties and Ledbury soon found themselves six points to the good thanks to two well-struck kicks from Barrett Price.

The game opened up for the rest of the half with only strong tackling from the likes of Watkins, White and Fisher keeping Tewkesbury from running away with it although they did score two unconverted tries before half-time for 10-6.

Determined to get back into the match Ledbury set about the task with a sense of purpose only to fall foul of the referee on numerous occasions. The decisive score following a succession of penalties for killing the ball and controversially 'almost dummying at the base of a scrum'.

It was to their credit that Ledbury continued to play constructive rugby and the scrum in particular were dominant and the restored double act of Clunie and Wilesmith combined well in the lineout.

With time slipping away the experienced Tewkesbury back division then took control and ran in two unanswered tries.