Tenbury 20 pts Warley 13 pts

DEBUTANT Tom Lawley was the toast of Tenbury Rugby Club after scoring a crucial try with his first touch.

The replacement winger crossed with just eight minutes remaining as Tenbury fought back from 10-0 down to record their third win of the campaign.

Skipper Pete Stevens says the confidence is starting to flood back into the Tenbury camp ahead of this Saturday’s Midlands Four West (North) derby at Bishops Castle.

“It was a cracking win because Warley have some very good players,” said Stevens.

“We had six regulars missing and we were a bit worried about not having some experienced players.

“We have a strong squad, and with a group of young players, I was very pleased that we all pulled together.

“It was fantastic to see Tom Lawley break away and score his first try to Tenbury.”

Stevens added: “We have Bishops Castle this Saturday and it will be a tough game.

“We are all looking forward to Saturday and I expect it will be very forward-orientated match.

“The pitch is rather narrow and Bishops Castle are always strong at home.

“We beat them at their place last season after Richard Wozencroft went over with a last-minute try.

“It will be a great chance to get everyone right for our home derby against Bromyard on December 14.”

Tenbury, who are third from bottom, trailed 10-0 at the interval in last Saturday’s match at Palmer’s Meadow.

“We played with the sun in our eyes and up the slope in the first half and we had a good chat at half time.

“John Webb was stood on the sidelines and made some very good substitutions.”

Stevens hailed Will Gough’s outstanding display for the hosts.

“Will Gough gave a man-of-the-match display. He has come in and filled his boots with the number eight role,” said Stevens.

“Will was superb – he tackled everything and was exceptional at the base of the scrum.”

Tenbury fell behind 3-0 early on after conceding a penalty in front of the posts before the hosts had a lot of possession and seemed to be getting back into the match.

But Warley broke away to score a converted try to give the visitors a 10-point cushion.

Andy Black scored Tenbury’s first try and Will Gough slotted the conversion.

Gough added a penalty to level the match at 10-10.

He slotted another penalty to put Tenbury 13-10 in front.

But Warley hit back and squared the match with 12 minutes remaining from a simple penalty.

Lawley then broke away to score his maiden try for Tenbury and Gough kicked the conversion.

Steven said: “We knew that when we got our players back, things would start to pick up.

“We have picked up a few excellent results and the confidence is starting to come back.

“We had not clicked until last weekend and the confidence came flooding back.”

Bishops Castle captain Pete Bevan is expecting a tough match in Saturday’s deby.

“Tenbury might be near the bottom but we were expecting a very hard game,” he said.

“Tenbury played well against us last season and did the double over us.

“The away match was played on a boggy pitch with water and mud up to our knees.

“We have proved in recent matches that we can play and will be training hard.

“We have to target matches like Tenbury and Warley as ones which we can win

“We are looking for two wins from two matches and heading into Christmas on the back of a couple of wins.