DIRECTOR of Rugby Dave Irish is itching for his abundance of injured players to make a return after watching Malvern suffer a 30-20 defeat at Berkswell & Balsall in Midlands Two West (South) on Saturday.
The visitors started brightly and took the lead when Adam Dixon scored a penalty and Ben King crossed the whitewash.
However, Berkswell & Balsall replied with a try of their own when their winger swept across the tryline following a catch and drive move.
The Spring Lane side gathered themselves and pushed forward once again, this time with Tom Hale bursting 60 metres downfield to score, which Dixon converted.
The hosts’ powerful pack proved too strong for Malvern though, as a long spell of pressure was eventually turned into a converted try to reduce the deficit to just three points at the break.
The visitors responded in the second half as Luke Milton finished off an impressive piece of breakaway play but, after trying to run the ball from their own 22, Malvern conceded a penalty which led to Berkswell scoring another try.
Still evenly poised at 20-17 up, Malvern again went on the attack but Liam Roleston was sin-binned for retaliating to a punch thrown by one of the home forwards.
The hosts then drew level with a penalty, before taking the lead when a penalty try was awarded at a scrum.
Any chance of a losing bonus point for Malvern faded when Berkswell won and scored a last minute penalty to end proceedings.
Irish said: “Our forwards were given a torrid time, so we’re looking forward to some of the injured lads returning.
“On the positive side, we played some sublime running rugby and scored some excellent tries against a very difficult side.
“With a week’s rest, I’m certain we will come back stronger in our run-up to the Christmas break.”
Malvern return to action on Saturday, November 19 (2.15pm) when they take on Dunlop at Spring Lane.
