RETURNING star Will Sparrow helped Ludlow to a fantastic win against Moseley Oak in Midlands 2 West (North).

Sparrow has agreed to play for the Linneymen until the end of the season due to not playing many games for Luctonians.

He scored a brace of tries and also kicked over three conversions and a penalty in Ludlow's 36-0 thumping.

"I needed more game time and there's only five games left in the season," said Sparrow.

"The clubs were happy to go ahead with it and I'm enjoying it.

"It was a fantastic win and a big stepping stone to ensuring our survival in the league."

Ludlow raced into the lead with Sam Thomas the first to go over the line with an unconverted try.

Mark Williams and Sparrow added two more tries inside the first fifteen minutes, with Sparrow converting both to hand his side a 19-0 half time advantage.

“It was great to be in such a good position at the break, we’d played extremely well and deserved the lead” said club spokesman Phil Norton.

It took 15 minutes into the second half before Ludlow managed to add to their points tally, with Sparrow touching down between the posts to see his side pick up a bonus-point.

“After scoring three early tries, it was a bit of an anxious wait to see if we’d manage to score another try and pick up the bonus point," admitted Norton.

Sparrow converted the try before adding more points with the boot thanks to a penalty.

Second row Alex Wallace rounded up the try-scoring, diving over in the corner, with Will Norton taking over kicking duties to convert.

With Tamworth sixteen points adrift of Stafford, and effectively relegated already, the five-point haul sees the Linneymen firmly in the driving seat as they battle head-to-head with Stafford to avoid the drop.

“It really gives us the confidence now to ensure our survival," said Norton.

“We’ve got a tough game coming up on Saturday against Old Saltleians who are second in the league, but if we can’t get the win we’ll be trying to get a bonus point at the very least.”

Ludlow have to travel to Stafford in the penultimate match of the season, and Norton says the aim is for Ludlow to try and remain at least five points ahead of their opponents going into the game.

“We’ve never been in the bottom two as when we’ve been level on points with Stafford," he said.

"The league take into account how many wins you’ve got, and we’ve got two more than Stafford at the moment.

"Hopefully we can keep that in our favour, and it’ll act as if we’ve got an extra point.”