NEIL Shillingford praised Dudley Kingswinford's ruthless second half showing as they beat Sutton Coldfield to go level at the top of Midlands One West.

DK secured a comprehensive 47-7 success last Saturday to match first-placed Burton on 56 points. They have, however, played a game more after the leaders saw their clash with third-placed Bromsgrove hit by the freezing conditions.

The director of rugby at Heathbrook was pleased with how his side improved after the break to sign off 2017 in style.

He said: "It was very pleasing to get the win but you could tell in the first half that we'd had a week off.

"It's only a week but we also missed a few training sessions as well because of the weather.

"We were just over playing a little and the conditions were a bit greasy after the snow melted and we weren't at our best.

"The pleasing thing was that we addressed a few issues at the break and went out and executed what we wanted really well.

"With so many other games off it was good to pick up the win and move on.

"It's good to go level at the top even though we've played an extra game. We won't worry about what others are doing and will just continue to concentrate on the things we can control.

"If we can start the new year well then it'll set us up really well."

DK will return to action after the festive break with a trip to take on local rivals Wolverhampton on Saturday, January 6.

Key centre Stef Shillingford should return following a knee injury.