CAPTAIN Ed Gough insisted Tenbury would have to build on their recent progress if they wish to live out their North Midlands Vase dream.

The Palmer’s Meadow outfit climbed to second in Midlands Five West (North) on Saturday with a 37-12 success over back-markers Warley.

The hosts raced out of the blocks with Will Greenwood running in a first-half hat-trick and Callum Spires adding a fourth to secure a bonus point before the interval.

Tenbury added to their score through Ricky Evans and James Martyn-Smith’s double but Gough felt their prowess had been stifled by trying a bit too hard during the second half.

And with a quarter-final tie at Ross-on-Wye – who have won six out of eight league matches at an equivalent level to Tenbury in Gloucester Two – next on the agenda, the skipper acknowledged his charges would need to up their game.

“It was a reasonable performance,” said Gough. “Callum scored a really nice try and Will was on fire in the first half but we were disappointed with the second to be honest.

“Looking back, we tried to force everything a bit too much and as a result, didn’t quite fire on all cylinders.

“We played better against Stourport the previous week and to be fair to Warley, they were a little bit better than we expected as well. The performance was alright but there were still plenty of areas to work on.

“We tried some new combinations with Will Greenwood going into the backs and we stuck with the same front row that started against Stourport.

“Joe Partridge came on and did well again, he produced a nice, tidy performance in his second match. Callum was good and Jacob Thomas came into the starting XV and played very well so there were various things to be pleased about.

“Things worked quite well with some really good individual performances but, collectively, things didn’t quite click into place on the day and that will be an area to address ahead of our next match.”

Tenbury received a walkover in the first round of the Vase and will look to join Pershore in the last eight on December 3.

“The tie at Ross is a big challenge so the lads will need no motivation to go down there and give everything we have got,” added Gough.

“This group has never got this far before so it will be a bit of a benchmark for the team we have put together, we are excited and looking forward to it but we also realise we will need to sharpen things up a bit.”