Sat 11 Nov 2023
Alcester 10 Evesham 38
An uncharacteristically flat Alcester performance, was punished by the visitors in the second half, who ran in four tries in that period to register a comprehensive victory at Kings Coughton.
With Alcester missing some key personnel for this game, a reshuffle saw Dwayne Cruickshank fill in at fly half and Ieuan Hopkin return to the side at no 8.
Playing up the slope in the first half, Evesham started brightly and took the lead in the first few minutes of the game with a catch and drive try from a line out.
Alcester hit back and good ball retention through several sets of hands culminated in skipper Will Silk breaking for the line, only to be hauled down, five metres short but he popped to flanker Pav Sembakutigge in support, who dived over under the posts. Silk converted to put Alcester in front.
An already injury hit Alcester squad were dealt as further blow midway through the half when, centre Lewis Wright, one of the stand out performers of the season so far, was forced off with a back injury. He was replaced by Harry Wylie, in a move that forced another positional reshuffle in the backline.
The visitors reclaimed the ascendancy and after coming close to adding to their score, they did double their account with another try, just before half time to go into the break with a 12-7 lead.
With veteran campaigner, Phil Birks, on a half time to add direction and aggression to the forwards, Alcester started brightly up the slope and inside ten minutes of the second half, they forced a penalty in front of the Evesham posts, which Silk elected to take the points from to narrow the scoreline to 10-12.
Unfortunately for Alcester, that is as close as it got, as the visitors dominated territory and possession for the rest of the game to run in four more tries and give the result the comprehensive look that the second half performance, in particular, warranted.
Alcester will look to get some personnel back and draw a line under this performance, ahead of the visit to Bromsgrove 2nd XV on Saturday. Kick off at Finstall Park is 2.15pm.
