INJURY-ravaged Ludlow kept up the pressure on Midlands 3 West (North) leaders Tamworth following a 24-12 win at Eccleshall.

And while an injury to Alex Wallace added to head coach Norman Stalker’s woes, there was some good news with Harry Lines making his first appearance for more than a year.

“Harry hasn’t played for Ludlow for quite some time having gone to university and then suffering a cruciate injury,” Stalker said. “But he came in at full-back and will be a valuable asset for us.”

And Lines certainly played his part in the defeat of struggling Eccleshall, his sparkling 40-metre run from deep inside his own half setting up Will Sparrow for one of his two tries. Sparrow finished the game with 19 points, Rhys Evans making up the scoreline with the other Ludlow try.

“We were always in the lead and were quite comfortable in the awful conditions,” Stalker added.

“The referee awarded them a penalty try when we brought down a maul ten metres out and if you take that away then it was a more accurate reflection of the game.

“We lost momentum when Alex Wallace suffered his injury. Thankfully it doesn’t look as bad as we first thought but it’s still knee ligament damage so he will be out for a while.

“We couldn’t move him and had to wait for an ambulance to arrive. In the end we moved to another pitch but there was still a delay of between ten and 15 minutes while it was decided what we should do.”

All three Ludlow tries came from the backs and the head coach has high hopes for his young side.

He said: “Even on the heavy pitches we are still able to get outside teams and make breaks, it’s what we’re good at. When we get on some decent pitches again in March and April we will get some decent scorelines again. The potential at the club is massive.”

On Saturday Ludlow are at home to Edwardians (ko 2.15).