CLEOBURY Mortimer and Clee Hill warmed up for this coming weekend’s eagerly-awaited Midlands 3 West (North) derby showdown with convincing home wins.

As Ludlow ran up a 66-5 victory over bottom-of-the-table Wednesbury, Cleobury whipped Cannock 43-7 and Clee Hill were 34-9 winners over Willenhall to stay in touch at the top of the table.

Ludlow (25 points from seven games) are second behind Tamworth (29) with Cleobury Mortimer and Clee Hill joint third on 20 points and with a game in hand on the leading pair.

Cleobury found themselves trailing 7-0 against Cannock, but quickly responded to take control. Three rapid tries put them in charge as Alex Brazier breached the Cannock line and then two scores came from driving line-outs, both from hooker Jack Bills, to give Cleobury a 17-7 interval lead.

After the break, with the strong wind behind them, Cleobury powered forward and Cannock’s heads dropped. Scrum-half Sam Bills got the fourth try, followed by Dave Leach, then brother Tom Leach and Ben Howman, with Dave Leach converting three of the four second-half tries.

Clee Hill were always in charge against a heavy Willenhall side, with their wide attacking policy yielding five tries from Charlie Evans, Steve Adams, youngster Connor Degnan, Tom Rawlings and Ryan Home, with Home kicking a penalty and three conversions.

Skipper Matt Bowen said:?“We beat Cleobury twice when we played them a couple of seasons ago though they have strengthened since then. But we are coming into some good form and are really looking forward to the game.”

Church Stretton fell agonisingly short against Aston Old Edwardians in Midlands 4 West (North), a 21-20 defeat representing their first home defeat of the season.

The Samurai led with three minutes to go in atrocious conditions, but a late penalty try saw the visitors inch in front. Stretton had the chance to snatch victory with a last-gasp penalty, but the tricky kick was missed, before they were denied another penalty with the last play of the game.

The defeat was only Stretton's second ever on home territory, leaving them sixth in the table after seven matches.

Flanker Finn Hughes and powerful Aussie centre John Ahnfeldt both scored first-half tries for Stretton, who trailed 14-12 at the break, with Dom Bradburne converting the opening try. Ahnfeldt’s was the pick of the day's touchdowns with a fine individual effort. He received the ball on the edge of the 22 and set off on a characteristic run, shrugging off several tackles to score.

Dan Harris also dotted down after the break and Marcus Bedson kicked a penalty but late on Aston earned themselves a five-metre scrum in the corner. The Stretton pack splintered in the mud as the visitors drove them over, and the referee awarded a penalty try. The conversion was successful to give Aston a crucial one-point lead.