Ledbury 13 Evesham 10
Midlands Three West (South)
EVESHAM surrendered their unbeaten league record at fellow high-flyers Ledbury on Saturday as the hosts snatched victory with a late penalty.
Despite the disappointment of defeat, Evesham can take positives from a resilient performance against their second placed hosts, who are now a point behind leaders Old Coventrians and four above the third placed Vale side.
On a wet and greasy day, both sides faced a stern test against in-form opposition and knew territory and field position would prove vital.
Evesham struggled to turn early control and territory into points and at half time were leading just 3-0 through a penalty kick from Sam Hopkins.
Playing uphill in the second half, the conditions ensured it would be a challenging 40 minutes for the visitors and Ledbury knocked over a penalty to level the score at 3-3.
However, the visitors rallied and in the 55th minute, following a period of sustained pressure by Evesham, Zak Shotton crossed for a try after linking up with Dan Humpston and a smart conversion by Hopkins extended Evesham’s lead to 10-3.
The hosts were in no mood to lie down though and, with the fly half controlling his team well, the home side spent the final quarter in Evesham’s half.
Despite brave defence for a long time, Ledbury’s scrum half snuck in for a converted score and the score remained level until the 78th minute when Evesham were penalised at the breakdown, allowing the Ledbury ten to win the match.
Evesham skipper Nathan Chambers said: “This was a hard defeat to take after being in the game for so long, but there are lessons learned and we look forward to our next game at home to leaders Old Coventrians on November 7.”