DROITWICH 22 Dunlop 0 Midlands Division Four West (South) DROITWICH maintained their unbeaten league run on Saturday with a workman-like performance to dispatch Dunlop.

The Spa side played into the blustery wind in the first period, and soon made inroads into the visitors territory. Outside half Duncan Hughes switched the play to find Sean Walker to carve a gap in the visitors defence and race 40 metres to score under the posts.

A mis-directed lineout throw by Dunlop saw Gareth Bronty gather the ball and power over from eight metres out to increase the home side's lead.

The second half developed into a scappy affair with tempers often boiling over and led to a disjointed half as the referee had to speak to the teams on a number of occasions to maintain discipline.

Although on occasions Droitwich did manage to play some rugby, a break by Ross Coombes found Ben Cotterell in support, who in turn fed winger Leon Hopkins to squeeze over in the corner. A clever kick by Hughes again saw Hopkins first to react to score his second.

A number of ugly brawls made the final section of the game less enjoyable, with Droitwich finishing the game with only 13 men due to having players in the sin bin.

The result, however, will be something Droitwich will be pleased with to maintain their title challenge.

The work of the forwards was impressive, enabling half backs Steve Poke and Duncan Hughes the chance to dictate the direction of the game. The clean sheet will also please the coaching staff.

Head coach, Dan Protherough, was pleased with his team's efforts, adding: "We did the simple things well and it paid dividends. The work of the forwards was very impressive."