Pethy are hit by more injury problems

10/12/06 - Somerset Vase Round 2: St. Bernadettes Old Boys 34 v 3 North Petherton

Report from the Bridgwater Mercury

With the terrible weather and poor condition of the pitch not suited to Petherton's recent style of play, things were always going to be more difficult than in their previous few matches against the Somerset Vase holders on Sunday afternoon.

Even though they traveled away yet again with a limited squad of players, Pethy looked dangerous in the first 15 minutes and were the more likely team to score. This changed when a damaged collarbone to scrum-half Carl Jarvis meant a re-shuffle in the lineup with centre Rob Havill moving up and flanker Ross Finlayson playing in the centre.

Matt Varcoe came off the bench and played a stormer on the open side, but without Finlayson to disrupt and steal the odd ball, Pethy began to have less and less possession. In the poor conditions, lineouts were a disaster area for both sides, but as the game wore on, Bernadettes began to win the majority of their throw-ins whilst pressurising the visitors into further mistakes.

Scrums were a problem for Pethy again, and even though Bernadettes were penalised a few times for pushing too soon and pulling the scrum around, Pethy were never able to win any clean ball, and by the end of the match they were turning the ball over.

In the first half Petherton had large amounts of possession and territory with the wind in their favour, but were unable to win good ball in scoring positions. The home side managed to show more precision, crossing twice before the break with two counter-attacks setup by their strong running outside centre. Going into half-time only 12-3 down, after a Tom Williams penalty had briefly given them the lead, Pethy felt that the score could easily have been in their favour had they made the most of their openings.

The second period was always going to be tough playing into the wind and rain, and Petherton struggled to clear the ball any great distance when continually pegged back by deep kicks into their half. Fly-half Lloyd Williams was also struggling to get the ball and hang onto it, and Pethy's back-line had little to do but defend as Bernadettes piled on the pressure.

When the forwards were able to deliver some quick ball, Pethy did manage to show some glimpses of their attacking potential, but the Bernadettes defence was well-organised and quick to put pressure on the Petherton backs.

To make matters worse, the visitors then had to spend the last 15 minutes of the match playing with 14 men after flanker Chris Mantyk was forced off with a head injury, which hindered the Petherton set-piece still further. With players out of position and a man down, Pethy's normally solid defence began to leak more tries as the hosts eventually ran comfortable winners, scoring 4 further tries in the process.

All of the Petherton players felt that, yet again, they had missed an opportunity to show a Bristol side away from home what they are truly capable of. All at the club will be hoping for a better display next weekend when they face Broad Plain at home.

Tries:

Cons:

Pens: T.Williams

Drop Goals:

Team: 15. T.Williams, 14. B.Williams, 13. R.Williams, 12. Havill, 11. Walford, 10. L.Williams, 09. Jarvis (rep. Varcoe), 01. Glanville, 02. McNeillie, 03. Webber, 04. Gingell, 05. Coles, 06. Mantyk, 07. Finlayson, 08. Lees.