That it did is to the credit of a large group of volunteers - many of them mini & junior players and their parents - who cheerfully cleared the snow off the Stourton Park pitch surface. The measure of their achievement is that all the 22 other games in the National Leagues programme were wiped out by the weather. Unfortunately the Saxons performance failed to repay their efforts, with uncharacteristically poor execution in attack and a raft of territory and possession conceded through penalties, but Bromsgrove defended like men possessed and were worth their win.

The Saxons got an early taste of their own medicine as Bromsgrove flanker Chris McGregor caught them cold with a try from a driving maul. Outside half Jon Critchlow slotted the conversion and further extended the lead shortly after with a penalty coughed up by a Saxons’ defence lacking its usual discipline.

The hosts hit back on the half-hour when a neat Sione Tu’ipolotu inside pass put Will Hurrell through a gap in the Bromsgrove defensive line, Caolan Ryan converting. But a technical infringement cost Robbie Hurrell 10 minutes in the sin bin and disaster struck when a misunderstanding in the Saxons’ wide defence let in Bromsgrove winger Charles Jones. It got even worse when backchat advanced a penalty into kickable distance and Critchlow struck again on the stroke of halftime.

Galvanised into action the Saxons struck back with Drew Harper scoring his 20th try of the campaign after a 15 metre scrum drive. But they were unable to get their driving maul to fire, and despite putting considerable pressure on the Bromsgrove line failed to breach it further. Soft penalties conceded in attack didn’t help, and they were left to rue the multiple occasions they declined straightforward 3 point opportunities in the chase for tries. Bromsgrove extended their lead through an Alex Woodward penalty and the final whistle heralded the Saxons’ first reversal of the campaign.

Coach Mike Umaga commented : “It wasn’t the best of days for us, credit of course to the volunteers who got the game on and to Bromsgrove who showed a lot of desire and executed the basics well, something we failed to do. There’s still a lot of rugby to play this season though and I’m sure this group of players will bounce back next week”.