Petherton continue excellent start to the season

16/09/06 - Somerset One: Somerton 6 v 48 North Petherton

North Petherton made it two wins out of two and topped 40 points for the second week running as they proved too strong for the home side Somerton on Saturday.

Somerton, who had been unable to raise a side for their opening league match at Imperial last week, had a full line-up and took a short-lived lead from a first minute penalty after the visitors made a mess of collecting the ball from the kick-off.

But, despite missing props Harley Brown and Rob Newton (both working) from last weeks line-up, Petherton went to town after that, playing some great, running rugby. The pace of the Petherton back-line proved too much for the home defence and two excellent breaks by centre Rob Havill, who tormented the Somerton defence throughout, were finished off in near identical fashion by supporting flanker Ross Finlayson, as Pethy quickly built a 10-3 lead.

After that Petherton’s confidence grew and they began to run everything, moving around the larger Somerton pack by passing out of the tackle and exploiting the spaces out wide as the home defence was sucked in. This led to four more tries before half-time, two from fly-half Lloyd Williams, and one each for brothers Ben and Russ Williams.

At half-time Petherton had already scored 38 points, and with the match won, looked to work on trying to improve certain aspects of their game in the second half. This change in emphasis led to a more disjointed second half performance, and a spirited effort by the home side reduced the visitors to only two further tries.

Somerton were the first to score in the second half with another penalty but despite some sustained pressure applied in patches by their forwards, the Petherton defence was strong, typified by a number of bone-crunching tackles by flanker Matt Brown. Petherton eventually got themselves going again and more good play between the backs allowed full-back Tom Williams to score a try in the corner to add to his four conversions.

The Petherton line-out showed signs of improvement throughout the match and a well-executed move from the back of a line-out provided more quick ball for the backs, who were able to send left-winger Bradley Archer over in the far corner for the last score of the match.

This was another good team performance from Petherton, and despite a slightly disappointing second half display, it was a marked improvement from last season when they struggled away from home. Petherton will be looking to improve again this coming Saturday when Wiveliscombe visit Beggars Brook in what promises to be Pethy’s biggest test of the season so far.

Tries: Finlayson (2), L.Williams (2), B.Williams, R.Williams, T.Williams, Archer

Cons: T.Williams (4)

Pens:

Drop Goals:

Team: 15. T.Williams, 14. B.Williams, 13. R.Williams (Rep. Kirk), 12. Havill, 11. Archer, 10. L.Williams, 9. Ryburuk, 1. Kearle (Rep. Frost), 2. McNeillie (Rep. Gibbs), 3. Glanville, 4. Gingell, 5. Doyle, 6. M.Brown, 7. Finlayson, 8. Lees.