WORCESTER'S Old Vigornians were soundly beaten by 96 runs by an experienced Droitwich Spa side at New Road in Worcestershire League Division Two.

The hosts opted to bowl first after heavy rain the evening before but any hopes to exploit early movement were quickly extinguished by the experienced Droitwich top four Martyn Davies (53), Max Young (42), Stuart Bryan (73) and Jez Hanson (81 not out).

Davies and Young added 77 for the first wicket while Bryan and Hanson put on 120 for the third.

Will Burgoyne and Ian Robinson picked up two wickets each for OVs but they were left to rue missed chances as Spa amassed 303-8 in 50 overs

The Droitwich attack, in particular Phil Thomas (1-26) and Young (2-26), bowled with control and stifled the OVs top order.

The old boys were on 58-3 after 21 overs before Rich Geary (27), Steve Campbell-Ferguson (32) and Burgoyne (21) showed endeavour and gave just a glimmer of hope.

Azmat Riaz (41) and Charlie Lamb (37) kept hitting boundaries but the target was too great and OVs were dismissed for 207 with seven overs remaining.

The match was the first to be umpired by recently-retired Worcestershire ace Jack Shantry.

Oldswinford and Stourbridge Social look like favourites for the division title as a fine century from Joe Siddaway and 5-31 from Tom Blunt led them to a comfortable victory in the top-of-the-table clash against Bromyard who slipped to fourth.

Coombs Wood smashed over 400 at Kempsey thanks to centuries from Wasim Ashiq (131*) and Gulham Abbas (130) to win by nearly 300 runs.

Robert Hawk took 6-31 for Belbroughton against Bartestree and Lugwardine to back up a fine batting performance led by Peter Margetts (85).

Enville beat Himbleton by five wickets on the road and Bredon slipped further off the pace after suffering a resounding loss by nine wickets at lowly Wormelow.

In Division One, there was little change at the summit as long-time leaders Stourport beat fellow high-fliers Worcester with a solid all-round team performance.

Second-placed Bewdley posted a total that proved well out of the reach of lowly Pedmore thanks to Simon Mauger (82) and Ash Fearnall (76).

Evesham remain third following a comprehensive 50-run victory at Cookley and Chaddesley Corbett climbed to fourth following a demolition job on basement side Burghill, Tillington and Weobley.

Feckenham are now mid-table just a couple of points behind Hagley after beating them by six wickets and Colwall eased to a comfortable win following a poor batting performance by Worcester Nomads who remain on the slide.

Qualification for the newly-structured Premier League in 2019 is starting to get down to the nitty-gritty.

It will take a strong finish by someone to overturn Lye in Division Three as the in-form leaders pulled over 40 points clear of the chasing pack following a five-wicket home win over Hanley Castle and Upton.

Rushwick bounced back into second after beating Five Ways Old Edwardians by nine wickets, swapping positions again with Alvechurch and Hopwood who were soundly beaten at home by Avoncroft who continue to climb the table.

Jonatan Boukhobza scored 89 to help Harborne chase down Bromsgrove’s 263-7 to secure victory while Martley beat visitors Eastnor by a comfortable margin.

The stand-out match at the top of Division Four was Astwood Bank against table-toppers Romsley and Hunnington.

But when the teams arrived both captains agreed the Hanbury pitch was unfit for play as due to the dry weather it was excessively cracked and the game was abandoned.

This presented the opportunity for Halesowen to regain top spot again which they took after Jon Preece (82) and Siddhesh Chavan (79) led them to 283-7 and it proved far too many for visitors Kidderminster to chase.

Claverley stay in fourth after Rupert Grainger (72) helped secure victory against Stourbridge and Hallow Taverners amassed 354-6 to overwhelm bottom club Stourport.

Hallow's top four of Dave Pugh (70), Neil Strange (84), Matthew Butler (63) and Dan Collins (54) starred with the bat.

Alveley climbed the table after chasing down West Malvern’s 233-7 to win by five wickets and Tenbury won a nail-biter by one wicket against Himley.

RESULTS - DIVISION ONE

Bewdley 277-8 20 S Mauger 78, A Fearnall 74, Pedmore 118 a/o 3 A Iqbal 53. Bewdley won by 159 runs.

Burghill, Tillington & Weobley 111 a/o 0 C Mole 4-41, Chaddesley Corbett 112-0 20. Chaddesley Corbett won by 10 wickets.

Evesham 293-9 20 M F Maan 66, A Shan 61, Cookley 240-9 7 J Dhadwal 63. Evesham won by 53 runs.

Hagley 207 a/o 3 M Levitt 71, M Stead 60, Feckenham 209-4 20 M Iddress 94, A Kings 59. Feckenham won by 6 wickets.

Stourport 263 a/o 20 G Massingham 50, Worcester 195 a/o 5. Stourport won by 68 runs.

Worcester Nomads 73 a/o 1, Colwall 74-3 20. Colwall won by 7 wickets.

DIVISION TWO

Belbroughton 271-9 20 P Margetts 85, P Hawk 56 - T Strangward 4-37, Bartestree & Lugwardine 107 a/o 4 R Hawk 6-19. Belbroughton won by 64 runs.

Oldswinford & Stourbridge Social 284-7 20 J Siddaway 101*, H Stainer 72 - J Redsull 4-59, Bromyard 152 a/o 3 J Van Rensburg 56 - T Blunt 5-31. Oldswinford & Stourbrisge Social won by 132 runs.

Himbleton 198 a/o 3 J Critchlow 53 - Z Sohail 4-43, Enville 200-5 20 G Tomkins 64, M Branch 55. Enville won by 5 wickets.

Coombs Wood 407-5 20 W Ashiq 131*, G Abbas 130, Kempsey 108 a/o 2 A Gregory 5-30. Coombs Wood won by 299 runs.

Droitwich Spa 303-8 20 J Hanson 81*, S Bryan 73, M Davies 53, Old Vigornians 207 a/o 5. Droitwich Spa won by 96 runs.

Bredon 108 a/o 0 T Cutler 4-20, Wormelow 109-1 20 J Snow 70*. Wormelow won by 9 wickets.

DIVISION THREE

Avoncroft 289 a/o 20, Alvechurch & Hopwood 186 a/o 5. Avoncroft won by 103 runs.

Bromsgrove 263 a/o 7 W Tuffin 60 - T Matthews 4-39, Harborne 267-8 20 J Boukhobza 89 - H Marshall 4-42. Harborne won by 2 wickets.

Hanley Castle & Upton 82 a/o 2 R S Nawaz 4-38, Lye 84-5 20. Lye won by 5 wickets.

Martley 184 a/o 20 S Shah 5-36, Eastnor 106 a/o 4. Martley won by 78 runs.

Five Ways Old Edwardians 103 a/o 0 N Indima 4-20, Rushwick 107-1 20. Rushwick won by 9 wickets.

DIVISION FOUR

West Malvern 233-7 5, Alveley 234-5 20. Alveley won by 5 wickets.

Astwood Bank 5, Romsley & Hunnington 5. Match Abandoned due to unfit pitch.

Halesowen 283-7 20 J Preece 82, S Chavan 79, Kidderminster 143 a/o 3. Halesowen won by 140 runs.

Claverley 202 a/o 20 R Grainger 72, Stourbridge 149 a/o 4. Claverley won by 53 runs.

Hallow Taverners 354-6 20, Stourport 164 a/o 2. Hallow Taverners won by 190 runs.

Himley 177 a/o 5, Tenbury 181-9 20. Tenbury won by 1 wicket.