A DAZZLING display from Ludlow’s backs provided plenty of early Christmas cheer for the Midlands Two West (North) side as they romped to a 41-19 win at Old Saltleians.

The rampant visitors ran in six tries and had the four-try bonus in the bag by half-time.

“Some of the tries were individual brilliance and some were team brilliance,” explained head coach Mikey Jones.

“It was a hard contest up front but it was our backs who won the game.

"Our defence was excellent, forcing them into errors and we capitalised on these.

"It was all about putting pressure on Old Salts and forcing the turnover or the knock-on.”

Winger Lawrence Hughes opened the scoring thanks to a huge assist from Mark Williams who produced a sublime sidestep and perfect pass.

An excellent break upfield from Will Sparrow then led to Rhys Perkins adding a second score for Ludlow before Sparrow added his name to the scoresheet.

A fourth try from Williams wrapped up the bonus point before the home side began clawing their way back into the game thanks to a period of pressure from their pack either side of the interval which saw them close the gap to 24-19.

With the forwards on the back foot, Ludlow’s hopes of a much-needed win looked to be diminishing when prop Theo Hodnett was forced off the field with an eye injury and back row Rhys Parkes suffered a head injury meaning Will Norton was drafted into the back row.

But the visitors regrouped and hit back in impressive fashion. Sparrow kicked ahead and chased only to lose out to rapid full-back Joe Doyle who out-sprinted the field and slid in under the Old Salts full back to score.

Sparrow added a penalty under the posts and after a superb interchange of passing between forwards and backs, centre Jack Lines went over for the final try to wrap up a vintage performance which hoisted Ludlow up to eighth in the league.

“We had said that we wanted to score an early try and we managed that,” Jones added.

“We allowed them back into the game a little bit but we did well at the end and it was the perfect way to go into the Christmas break.”

Ludlow are next in league action against Tamworth on January 6 but face old foes Tenbury in their annual Boxing Day fixture which will be played at The Linney this year.

Cleobury Mortimer were also in action in Midlands Two West but went down 39-0 at fourth-placed Walsall.

Bishop's Castle climbed to the top of Midlands Five West (South) thanks to their 61-5 win at basement club Stourport.

The visitors scored ten tries with Henry Wilson, Phil Oliver and Damon Ewers grabbing two apiece.

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