TENBURY forced table-topping Essington to pull out all the stops to preserve their unbeaten start to the Midlands 5 West (North) season.

The Staffordshire side arrived at Penlu boasting a 100 per cent record, from four victories and a walkover and they made it six wins on the spin with a slender 8-0 triumph.

On a wet pitch with driving rain and wind making handling conditions difficult, Tenbury played some terrific rugby, with a strong scrum and some excellent tackling thwarting nearly everything Essington threw at them.

But the visitors managed to cross far out for an unconverted try which gave them a narrow 5-0 lead at the break.

Essington again pressed for dominance in the second half but only managed a single penalty for their efforts. The tackling of Tenbury’s Jon Males, Claude Celton and Craig Parkes stemmed some powerful runs while the carries of Ed Bedhall and Jon Hitchings brought Tenbury close to scoring the try they so richly deserved.

Debutant Charlie Greig also had a sound game while Sam Thompson hooked well, and Craig Curtis made it a formidable front row with Will Morgan. In the threes Callum and Ben Spires made several powerful carries to gain ground and Lawson Thomas did his usual job of organising the back line.

Tenbury 2nds had their first home game of the season, but had to bow to Hereford 3rds, who were bigger and more experienced side and ran in 63 points without reply.