A LACK of pre-season action caught up with Church Stretton in a 25-0 home defeat to Bromyard in round one of the North Midlands Vase on Saturday.

The well-drilled visitors were out of sight by half-time with a 20-point cushion as Stretton’s new-look side struggled and made several errors in the rain.

Bromyard were destined for the next round courtesy of tries from Rupert Jones, Tom Hulburd, Jamie Gibbons and John Pudge during the first 40 minutes but the hosts rallied after the interval.

New centre partnership Dan Rawlings and Jay Houghton made inroads down the middle while winger Danny Harley caused problems with some tricky footwork down the flank.

Stretton continued to grow into the game with the forwards starting to gel as a unit, matching their opponents in the scrum and tightening up in defence.

The centres continued to beat defenders in the middle with fly-half Roan Kirkby pulling the strings with some clever kicks for territory.

But their sterling efforts were to no avail and Bromyard added to their score through newcomer Jarrod Kidston late on.

The defeat means Stretton will now enter the Plate, a competition they won last season. They travel to Rugeley on Saturday (3pm) for their curtain-raiser in Midlands Four West (North).

In the preliminary round, Tenbury won 15-3 at Birmingham Exiles thanks to two tries from Will Greenwood and one from Callum Spires. Tenbury kick off their Midlands Five West (North) campaign at home to Aldridge on Saturday (3pm).

In the North Midlands Shield, Ludlow’s clash at Edwardians was postponed, while Clee Hill lost 35-15 at home to Woodrush.