COACH Norman Stalker is no longer worried about dropped bonus points after Ludlow moved seven points clear at the Midlands Three West (North) summit.

Stalker’s men took advantage of their game in hand with a 26-10 success at Edwardians in treacherous conditions on Saturday.

The visitors were seven points down but Will Sparrow kicked four penalties to turn the tide by half-time before Rhys Perkins and Sparrow scored tries in the second half.

“A bonus point never looked likely to be honest,” said Stalker. “It was a horrible, sticky pitch and we were always going to struggle being ankle deep in mud.

“You don’t want a mud bath to play on when you have pace in the side but you have to deal with it.

“We had to make five changes to the team and the pack struggled to start with. We looked disjointed for the first 20 minutes but were okay once we settled.

“Edwardians were pretty good at upsetting the referee and Will just kept kicking the points to put us in the driving seat at half-time.

“It was comfortable enough in the end. While we always want the bonus point, we are two-thirds of the way through the season and it is all for the others to do now. All we have to do is keep winning.”

Next up for Ludlow is a trip to fourth-bottom Harborne for a match which will also decide the quarter-final of the North Midlands Shield Plate.

“It will be a bit odd,” added Stalker. “If the game is a draw then we will have extra-time while only picking up a limited amount of league points.

“We hope to have it sewn up by then but I am surprised the various people running the competitions have agreed to it.”

Elsewhere, Church Stretton centre Will Davies played a pivotal role as North Midlands RFU’s under-20s thrashed their Buckinghamshire counterparts 60-26.