Ledbury travelled to bottom of the Midlands Three West (South) table Keresley for their penultimate league fixture.

KERESLEY 8PTS, LEDBURY 29PTS

It was crucial for Ledbury to win this game to help with ensuring survival in the league, but with 12 players unavailable for selection, it was going to prove a tough challenge.

Within minutes of the kick-off, a lovely grubber kick from Rob Collins saw Australian Tukia Muli gather and feed back inside to the Welshman to score the opening try. The kick from Barratt Price was successful and the score board moved to 0-7.

A high ball saw the Keresley full-back at sixes and sevens and the loose ball was gathered by New Zealander Keith McCulloch to set up second phase ball. Quick hands through the back-line saw James White score an unconverted try.

Keresley made their one and only visit to Ledbury's 22 in the first-half and were rewarded with a penalty kick although Ledbury replied with a penalty of their own to make it 3-14 at half-time.

In the second-half, Ledbury once more took the initiative and continued to pressurise their hosts. The scoreline remained unchanged for 15 minutes but the result never looked in doubt. Tireless work by Dave Fotherby and Jamie Williams in the second row prevented the larger home pack from generating any momentum.

Bruce Jones, playing at scrum-half, was enormous in defence and any loose ball was his no matter who was competing for it. Mercurial Rob Collins playing at 10 then sealed the game with a scampering run down the right wing, looking anxiously over his shoulder. The conversion made it 3-22.

Some bullocking runs from Shaun Nash began to take its toll on the big tight head prop and he was replaced by Steve Green. Dave Fotherby was replaced by Mark Bell and Rob Collins by Toby Blandford, but not before the outside-half secured his hat-trick with some great individual skill.

The final try was a classic show and go. From opposition line-out, Ledbury's captain Matt Williams leapt skywards to take the ball against the head. A straight forward's pass to Collins saw him dummy to pass inside and the defence opened, allowing a simple sprint in and a converted score under the posts resulted.

Keresley were awarded a try at the death for a final score of 8-29.

Director of rugby Darrell Williams said: "We have avoided relegation this year with a game to spare. There has been a tremendous effort both on and off the field and I would like to give a special thank you to Rob Collins, Matt Williams and all of the players.

"At the start of the season I asked for 'honest' rugby players and that's what I got. To come back week after week from a caning requires a special dedication. We stuck to our guns and our policies and turned the season around.

"This year we have won the same number of games as we have in the previous two and when we consider that we only won our first league game in December, it shows the changes that have been made."