Injuries marr Ludlow's defeat
Ludlow ended up with just 13 players after a catalogue of injuries marred their 72-18 defeat at Crewe & Nantwich in the Midlands Two West North.
The Linney Men, 17-6 down despite two penalties from Will Sparrow, lost Matt Wilkes to a hamstring injury before the break.
Two tries and a conversion left Ludlow chasing the game but they collapsed in the second half, with many of their team unable to continue. Mark Williams, James Tyrell, Alex Wallace and Gareth Parker all went off hurt after the break, although Ludlow did manage two late tries. Rob Higgins drove over after a good break from Jim Alderson before Will Armitage crossed the line, Sparrow converting the first effort.
Club spokesman Phil Norton said: "We played pretty well first-half; it looked like we would be 12-6 down at half-time.
"I thought to myself that, if we turned around like that with the wind, we were in with a chance but they scored again right on the break.
"We made a mess of the kick-off in the second half, so they got another one more or less straight away, and then we had a string of injuries. It was unbelievable; we ended up with 13 players and they were spreading the ball wide, where we were short. But, during that period, we still scored two tries so we did keep going."
Ex-Ludlow captain Darren Brick scored a hat-trick of tries on his home debut as Bridgnorth shut out Old Saltleians 43-0 to take the spoils on two fronts.
The match also doubled up as a North Midlands Cup quarter-final, with the All Blacks having one eye on Saturday's RFU Midlands Intermediate Cup regional final at Leek.
Brick crashed home the opener and added two more after skipper Dan Griffiths touched down, with Luke Stevens and Mike Preece also on the scoresheet.
Griffiths said: "We just dominated everything – the scrum, line-out and we got the ball wide quickly.
"We knew to win like that would make us feel great for this week. The lads are full of confidence."
In South Lancashire & Cheshire Division Two, Oswestry beat bottom club Wallasey 52-5 with Nick Howland their hat-trick hero. Other scorers were Michael Keaveny, Olly Wilford, Tom Thorpe and Nick Clay while there was a first try for Luke Roberts.
