REDDITCH RFC suffered a narrow 23-15 defeat against 14-man Evesham II as the visitors struck late to deny the home side a losing bonus point.
Tries from Jack Mertens and Joe Purvis proved in vain at Bromsgrove Road as Evesham scored a late try before having a player sent off for a dangerous tackle.
The result means the Kingfishers sit seventh in the Counties 4 Midlands West (South) table.
Evesham scored the game’s first try following a sublime chip and chase as Will Spires kicked a penalty for Redditch to reduce the deficit.
The home side failed to make the most of their dominance at the scrum and their strong driving maul before Tom Dickens suffered a serious knee injury.
And the visitors kicked a penalty of their own before the break to leave Redditch trailing by five points at the interval.
The Kingfishers started the second half on the front foot as Mertens cut an excellent line to finish under the posts following a period of sustained pressure and Cal Razzak converted.
Evesham responded with another successful penalty before the visitors scored their second try following another incisive run.
Redditch then won a series of penalties which eventually saw Purvis crash over to close the gap between the teams to three points.
However, Evesham restored their eight-point lead with their third try of the game with the Kingfishers unable to respond despite the visitors receiving a red card late on.
Redditch are next in action against Old Leamingtonians II on Saturday, October 12 with kick-off at 3pm at The Crofts.
