UNDERSTRENGTH North East Worcestershire Ravens put in a spirited display in Saturday’s 78-20 loss at Midlands Premier champions Northampton Demons.

Ravens loaned four players from the home side after only arriving with ten men because of illness and work commitments.

The hosts opened the scoring but it was the away side who took an 8-6 lead after bagging two touch downs.

They held onto their advantage for 26 minutes, before Demons raced into a 38-8 lead by half-time.

The second half was a repeat of the first, with Northampton scoring first and Ravens replying 10 minutes later.

But the lack of squad depth affected the away team and Northampton took advantage of the increasingly tiring side to keep scoring.

Ravens’ injuries compounded the problem as numbers on the pitch dropped to 12 and then 11.

Liam Dunne pulled a try back for Ravens, which David Wimbury converted to give the Ravens a respectable 20-point tally.

Sunday was a more successful day for Ravens with over 60 juniors training at Hopwood Park.

The under-13s team hosted Telford Raiders in the first Midlands Merit league fixture.

Sunday afternoon then saw some under-14s and Ravens first-team players take on the Halcyons Masters team in a touch rugby league clash.

Next week sees the first team on a gap week and Hopwood Park hosting the first Midlands Development Day with registration starting at 10.30 for 11am until 1pm session.

Activities will include skills training from regional development coaches, age group games, free open access to school years three to 10 and is open to any new players who can register on the day.

For more details on fixtures for any Ravens teams please visit our website www.ne wravensrl.co.uk