A 22-17 home defeat to fellow strugglers Earlsdon left Evesham Rugby Club facing a Midlands Two West (South) relegation battle.

As with the previous week the Vale hosts were inconsistent in the first half, conceding two tries and a penalty kick.

But Jordy Izod touched down in the corner with Mike Diston making a tricky conversion to keep Evesham in the game 15-7 down at the break.

Evesham again improved in the second period and gradually took control while scoring a try through Wilf Watson.

Diston converted and then slotted a penalty to give his side a 17-15 lead with minutes to go.

But with the win in sight Evesham lost their composure and let Earlsdon back in for a late try to take the spoils.

With their next five matches against top-six teams, starting with the visit of leaders Stratford on Saturday (2.15pm), Evesham will need to up their game to pick up points.

Evesham are fourth from bottom and level on 22 points with Earlsdon below them.

Eighth-placed Pershore won 31-27 at Harbury to extend the gap over their opponents to 13 points in Midlands Four West (South).

They entertain second-from-bottom Kings Norton on Saturday.

Bredon Star head to leaders Brockworth in Wadworth Gloucestershire Two North on Saturday.

Hosts Evesham colts beat Bromsgrove 15-7 on a wet, windy day in the North Midlands Cup preliminary round.

A scrum on the edge of the 22 saw James Carsberg feed Ruben Ibbotson who put Jonny Tarring through a gap at blistering pace which created an overlap for full-back Will Pearce to score.

Toby Turner was unlucky with the conversion before Bromsgrove came straight back with a forward driving game through their heavier pack.

Evesham weathered the storm with strong defence, particularly by player of the match George Bell who made five telling tackles in quick succession.

The relentless driving proved too strong eventually and Bromsgrove benefited from Evesham going down to 14 players with a converted try.

Turning round 7-5 down Evesham continued with a similar game plan, looking to run when the opportunity arose.

Jake Smith soon scored from a driving maul and Tom Hedworth rounded things off on the wing from a back-row move involving Smith and scrum-half Tom Gough.

Sound Evesham defence prevented any further scores and the two teams meet again on Sunday in the league at Bromsgrove.