REDDITCH RFC suffered a 36-12 defeat away at high-flying Malvern II with the Kingfishers a player short for the entirety of the fixture.
A late withdrawal saw Redditch take to the pitch with only 14 players as Jack Mertens scored two late tries for the Kingfishers in vain at Spring Lane.
The result means Redditch sit ninth in the Counties 4 Midlands West (South) table.
Despite playing with a man less, Redditch made a bright start as the visitors pushed Malvern back with a couple of penalties.
And a good break from Rory Allen saw the Redditch player stopped just short of the line as Malvern managed to turn the ball over.
The turnover led to a long range try from Malvern as the home side dotted down under the posts to take the lead.
Malvern struck again to take a 12-point lead while Redditch committed three high tackle offences in quick succession which led to a sin-bin.
The home side crossed twice more with the Kingfishers down to 13 players as Malvern took a commanding 29-point lead into the break.
Redditch lost another player to the sin-bin in the second period which allowed Malvern to cross for their only try in the second half.
However, the Kingfishers improved in the final quarter as Mertens crashed over for Redditch’s first try following sustained pressure on the Malvern line.
And Mertens crossed for his second try soon after to further reduce the deficit although the Kingfishers lost Matt Barnett, Jay Thomas and Jon Beale to injury during the contest.
Redditch are next in action against Chaddesley Corbett on Saturday, December 6 with kick-off at 2.15pm at Bromsgrove Road.
