Rugby: Whitchurch v Worcester Wanderers

Whitchurch paid for some slack tackling as they fell to a heavy home defeat against Worcester Wanderers.

The north Shropshire side were always behind in the Midlands One West clash and never looked like retrieving the deficit as they eventually went down 50-15.

"We were doing all right in the first half but it was not a particularly good day," said club president John Gregory.

"They opened up and found gaps, and they finished very well.

"We had opportunities and should have scored more but we didn't manage to keep the pressure on Worcester.

"Our lack of tackling was really the main reason for the defeat."

Whitchurch still felt they were in contention at half-time, a Robbie Dudley try supplemented by a conversion and a penalty from Danny Nicholas to leave them trailing 17-10.

But Worcester ran through at will in the second half, scoring five tries to take their match total to eight.

Olly Bates did go over with a forward drive for the hosts but the Wanderers already had 45 points on the board by that stage. Ludlow also went down to a heavy defeat beaten 31-5 at Stratford-upon-Avon.

But the match was tinged with controversy, Ludlow claiming that the linesman should have disallowed two of the three first half tries because the scorers had been tackled into touch.

"We actually started the game off pretty brightly and were putting pressure on them for the first 15 minutes or so," said spokesman Phil Norton.

"But they took an interception when we were pressurising their line and ended up scoring at the other end.

"They scored two more tries to go 17-0 up at half-time, though we had whinge that two of those tries should not have been allowed."

Hopes of a fightback quickly faded as Stratford added a fourth try soon after the re-start.

Prop Sam Wilkes did go over for Ludlow but the hosts responded with one more converted try to finish the scoring.

It was a third defeat in their last four outings for the Shropshire side, who are now only just holding on to a top-half position in the league table.