Ludlow end year on a high with a win

A 38-12 success against Sutton Coldfield saw Ludlow head into the festive break sitting fourth in the Midlands 1 West standings.

Jack Lines led the victory charge with two tries and four conversions with Will Hodnett, Rhys Perkins, Mark Williams and Joe Doyle also touching down.

“We were in control for the vast majority of the game,” said head coach Mikey Jones.

“We had a player sent off in the second half which gave them a bit of a boost and then went down to 13 following a yellow card. So we didn’t always have it our own way.

“But we actually played better with less players. We were perhaps guilty of taking our foot off the pedal at times.

“We had a lot of the ball but didn’t really do that much with it. There were a couple of moments of brilliance that led to tries.

“But it was good to bounce back with a win following the defeat at Stoke. We basically didn’t turn up for that game.

“It was nice to have one more game before Christmas and to round off the year with a win. We can go into Christmas happy and ready to regroup for the new year.”

Ludlow are next in action on January 8 when they tackle Shropshire rivals Whitchurch.

Whitchurch suffered a 47-19 reverse away to leaders Lichfield.

“Saturday’s win sets us up nicely for the when we return in January with a trip to Whitchurch,” added Jones. “That will be a tough place to go but we have to go there at some point.”

Market Drayton Ravens signed off 2021 in style with a superb victory at Midlands 4 West (North) rivals Rugeley.

The game was a brutal affair with hosts Rugeley fielding a huge pack of forwards that gave the Ravens a torrid time at the scrummage.

But a fine defensive display for the visitors kept the Rugeley forwards at bay for most of the game and helped pave the way for a 15-8 success.

Alex Gammon set Ravens on their way with a penalty and they increased their lead when Gammon crashed through two tacklers and managed to offload the ball to Ryan Horton, who ran in under the posts. Gammon added the conversion.

The home side replied with a unconverted try to make it 10-5 at half-time.

Rugeley cut the gap to two points thanks to a penalty but it was the visitors who added the final points of the day when Horton grabbed his second try to make it 15-8.

In the same division, Oswestry’s scheduled clash with Yardley was postponed.