Rugby: Rock bottom for Shrewsbury

Struggling Shrewsbury hit rock bottom in Midlands Two West (North) – after a 68-10 drubbing at Old Saltleians.

The men from Sundorne Castle have now lost all three league games this season and skipper Simon Evitts admits they deserved no better.

A Tim Murgatroyd penalty got them on the board, and they added to that with a Rob Sankey try right at the death.

"If it was possible, I'd say we were third to everything," said Evitts. "We weren't at the races and they wanted it more than us.

"I was quite confident about the fixture and being able to counteract their big pack but it wasn't to be.

"If there was anything to take from it, it was that we stuck at it and got a try from the final play of the game."

Bridgnorth suffered their first defeat of the season as they went down 22-11 at home to Leek.

Ravagaed by injuries, the All Blacks' pack took to the field with six changes and an untried back five.

A Stefan Hildred penalty and a try from veteran centre Mike Preece kept Bridgnorth in touch as they trailed 15-8 at the break.

Another Hildred penalty threatened a comeback,, but Leek finished strongly and scored a last-minute try to deny the hosts even a bonus point for finishing within seven of the winners.

In Midlands Three West (North), Cleobury Mortimer suffered a second defeat of the season, losing 29-15 at Harborne.

The day got off to a bad start for the south Shropshire side, with winger Nick Lewis and full-back Ben Bowen both pulling out of the trip to Birmingham through illness.

And skipper Hylton Smith admitted: "We were late arriving and were still in the cars really, we were 22-0 down at half-time."

Cleobury did fight back, with tries from Jack Bills and John Britton as well as a conversion and a penalty from Matt Jones, but Harborne scored a late converted try of their own to seal the win.