Pethy made to work hard for third derby win of the season

17/02/07 - Somerset One: North Petherton 16 v 8 Burnham-On-Sea

Report by Lloyd Williams

Petherton had already beaten Burnham twice this season without conceding a point, but this was always going to be a tough test for them with Burnham having beaten former league leaders Old Sulians in their previous match, and having strung together a recent good run of results. Pethy had spent their last three matches battling with Bristol teams and had not been given a chance to play their natural game. The pitch seemed in good condition, but after about 20 minutes in it had turned into a muddy mess, which didn't really suit either team.

Pethy played up the slope first half and for the first 20 minutes dominated most areas of play. However, all they had to show for this was a penalty kicked by Tom Williams. Both teams began to kick more and more as it was increasingly hard to run on the sticky surface, and both defence's were holding firm. When Pethy were in possession their forwards were playing excellently, dominating the scrum and making good ground around the fringes. When they were defending, they often turned the ball over and were aggressive in the tackle. The backs used Chris Burge and Rob Havill repeatedly up the middle, but were unable to make a clean break through. Burnham slowed the ball well at every breakdown, which meant the Pethy backs never received quick enough ball to spread it wide.

After a period of soaking up the pressure deep in their half, Petherton were awarded a penalty in kickable range but decided to kick to the corner. After a line out drive and a couple of pick and goes by the forwards which ended meters away from the line, the ball was sent wide for the first time, and in a training ground move, in which Lloyd Williams threw a long ball to Tom Williams, with Rob Havill and Chris Burge drawing their opposite men with straight running, Tom drew the last two defenders and passed to Ben Williams for a clear run into the corner from 10 meters out. Tom Williams just missed the conversion.

The next 10 minutes saw Burnham step up a gear, and after a Pethy mistake from the kick off they struggled to get the ball back. Burnham made a few half breaks and Pethy were unable to win their line outs cleanly and started to give away too many penalties. Suddenly out-numbered and with Burnham looking likely to score, a penalty was conceded in front of the posts and Pethy were relieved to give away just the 3 points. With 5 minutes to go Pethy were awarded another penalty in a kickable position which Tom Williams kicked. At the turnaround Pethy were pleased with a solid first half.

The second half started with Pethy sending a few kicks deep into the Burnham half. After stealing the ball and putting in a lot of forward pressure on the Burnham pack, Pethy were awarded a five meter scrum. James Lees made a pick up, off-loaded to Carl Jarvis, who drew the last defenders and then sent a flat pass to Ben Williams, who would have been in the corner had it been passed a second earlier, but unfortunately a Burnham hand just managed to get in the way. Another scrum was given and the Pethy pack pushed it over the line with No.8 James Lees skillfully keeping it under control all the way before touching down the ball to score. Tom Williams' conversion attempt was accurate but just fell short.

From this point Pethy were guilty of putting themselves under pressure and not killing the game off whilst they were clearly dominating up front and capable of running tries in if they could only get it wide. From the restart Pethy conceded a string of penalties, which Burnham ran quickly, eventually creating an overlap that the home defence covered, but at the breakdown second row Ben Harvey was sin-binned for stamping. This coincided with Burnham bringing on their Tongan ex-international into the front row, and having previously controlled the scrum, Pethy were now pushed off at a rate of knots, and this suddenly saw a shift in power.

The only time Pethy moved out of danger areas was through Burnham mistakes or aggressive tackling which turned the ball over. Soon Pethy found themselves on their own line defending scrum after scrum, a continued attack almost saw Burnham score in the corner had the last pass not been forward. After yet more penalties and poor decisions on the ball Pethy were back on their line, with a quick break which the backs seemed to have covered, the Burnham centre saw that Tom Williams had been dragged into the defensive line and sent a kick through. With no one covering, the winger had a clear run to dive on the ball. The referee first pointed to a 22 drop out as it looked to be passed the dead-ball, but quickly changed his mind and awarded the try. To their relief Pethy saw the conversion missed.

During this period the injured McNeillie was substituted for Matt Glanville which added more weight to the Pethy front row. With the sin bin over, Matt Brown replaced Mike Coles, with James Lees moving to second row as Pethy re-asserted their control of the scrummage.

Still, with just over 10 minutes left Burnham still had a chance to turn things around. Carl Jarvis was replaced by the experienced Kevin Ryburuk to try and get the forwards back on track. The remainder of the game was an untidy and scrappy battle in the middle of the park. Burnham threw everything at Pethy, but they managed to hold on to their 8 point lead.

Generally, all of the forwards played well, with powerhouses Mike Coles and Simon Gingell standing out for their effort in the mauls and general work around the park. Rob Havill was solid in defence, containing the danger men in the Burnham back line on every occasion. On the whole the Pethy backs defended well and looked dangerous at times when they could overcome the Burnham drift defence, which snuffed out many a scoring opportunity.

A positive for Petherton at the moment is the increasing size of their squad due to the return of injured players. This week selection was hard with players being pushed to the bench or playing for the 2nds, and next week will be even tougher with Harley Brown, Phil Hambley, Matt Brown, Kev Ryburuk, and Matt Glanville a few of the players fighting for a first team starting spot.

Next weekend Pethy have another local derby, this time away to Wiveliscombe, who lost heavily away to Old Sulians on Saturday, which was a result Pethy had not wanted. This means Petherton remain 4 points off the second placed team, who seem to have recovered from their recent dip in form, and would have to lose games to teams at the bottom end of the table in order to be caught.

Tries: B.Williams, Lees

Cons:

Pens: T.Williams (2)

Drop Goals:

Team: 15. T.Williams, 14. B.Williams, 13. C.Burge, 12. Havill, 11. S.Pearn, 10. L.Williams, 9. Jarvis (Rep. Ryburuk, 70), 1. M.Burge, 2. McNeillie (Rep. Glanville, 55), 3. Webber, 4. Coles (Rep. M.Brown, 60), 5. Harvey, 6. Gingell, 7. Finlayson, 8. Lees.