North Midlands Under-17s went down 20-10 to Staffordshire in their second and final match of their inaugural campaign at Stourbridge.
North Midlands began brightly with captain Harry Williams (Birmingham Met College, Sutton Campus) and Finley Barnes (Shrewsbury College) combining to give Freddy Elliott (Abraham Darby School) a run but the wing was bundled into touch just short of the line.
Staffordshire responded with a try from a driving lineout and they repeated the dose to increase their lead before the break.
North Midlands played a tighter game in the second half and a strong carry from Kieran Garwood (South Bromsgrove HS) and excellent support play enabled Nick Street (Wrekin College) to weave his way over for an unconverted try.
Staffordshire hit back after a lengthy stoppage while North Midlands centre Jac Jones (Ellesmere College) was receiving treatment and they powered upfield to score a well-worked third try.
North Midlands got back within striking range when superb handling allowed Williams to cross out wide.
North Midlands then dug deep in defence, led by Ewan Gwynn (Hereford Sixth Form College). A touchfinder from Elliott briefly relieved the pressure but Staffordshire again used their driving maul from a lineout to seal the win.
“The group of players should be proud of their efforts and as a team only bought together a few weeks ago with limited training sessions under their belt showed great promise, team work and a fantastic attitude that the coaches are already looking forward to seeing next year when some will progress to the North Midlands Under-18s squad,” said North Midlands coach Kieram Hallam