MALVERN RFC bounced back from last week’s thrashing at Lichfield to beat Whitchurch 17-5 in an enthralling encounter at Spring Lane.
The 17-try massacre at Cooke Fields is likely to go down as one of the club’s darkest days, but the 115-0 defeat appeared to have no ill-effects as Malvern burst out of the blocks on Saturday.
Alan Keylock drove over with 11 minutes on the clock to give the hosts the lead, while full back Luke Milton was making early in roads.
Nick Tisdale’s men suffered a string of set backs as Keylock saw yellow before Nick Miller and Jordan Hillier were forced off due to injury. But Malvern remained resolute and eventually began to assert their authority again, with Jamie Anderson making powerful carries up-field.
Nathan Dunford twice missed the target the tee, but the home side soon extended their advantage when James Swain dived over. Dunford added the extras to give Malvern a 12-0 at half time.
The fly half slotted home another penalty after the interval as the hosts looked to hammer home their advantage.
But the match failed to kick on, while both teams lost players to the sin-bin with Stuart Clarke and Daniel Nicholas being brandished a yellow card.
Whitchurch also managed to get off the mark with a try from James Park, which Ryan Horton converted with five minutes left, but Malvern stayed calm to see out time.