Rugby: Ludlow 10 Shrewsbury 6

Jubilant Ludlow emerged from one of their toughest afternoons of the season so far with their position at the top of Midlands Two as strong as ever.

The Linney men were pushed all the way before overcoming Shrewsbury 10-6 at Sundorne Castle.

And the satisfaction in the Ludlow camp was even greater as news of results elsewhere filtered through. Nearest challengers Old Saltleians were forced to settle for a share of the spoils in a 15-15 draw at Tamworth while third placed Aston Old Edwardians were downed 31-13 at Leek.

And that combination has seen Ludlow storm six points clear at the top of the table.

"It was a difficult game but a very important win and, while there's still a long way to go, it has put us in a strong position," said Ludlow spokesman Phil Norton.

Ludlow had looked set for a relatively comfortable afternoon as they swept into a 10-0 lead with Joe Doyle scoring a try and Will Green adding the conversion and a penalty.

But Shrewsbury didn't go down without a fight and the outcome was in the balance until the final whistle with Chris Perry scoring a penalty just before half-time and another five minutes from the end.

"Their set piece was better than ours on the day," added Norton."They won most line-outs and scrums and that made it difficult for us.We have a few players out at the moment so it was pleasing to get the win."

The narrow defeat leaves Shrewsbury seven points clear of the drop zone, but captain Simon Evitts was pleased with his side's efforts.

"I was happy as I could be on Saturday," he said. "We played some good, sensible rugby which we haven't done for a while.We are picking up some bonus points at the moments but we are aware we need wins so hopefully we can repeat Saturday's performance in the future and get the right results."

By JAMES GARRISON