NPRFC - 1st XV vs Old Culverhaysians

This will be a game to forget for most of the North Petherton players. It started with poor turnouts at training during the previous week and ended with a draw against a side that they really should have beaten. Pethy travelled away with only one replacement and the bus did not arrive at the away ground until 10 minutes before kick-off, allowing just enough time for a brief warm up, although the kick-off was delayed until 2.40.

During the first half Pethy had the advantage of the strong cross winds blowing across the pitch. They had most of the possession and territory, but were unable to string enough phases together to get any scores. From the first time the Pethy backs got their hands on the ball it was clear to see that they were going to make breaks and all they had to do was play sensible rugby and not rush. However, it never really clicked, with both backs and forwards making too many handling errors throughout the first half. In the wind neither side’s lineout was producing any clean quick ball which the Pethy backs rely on heavily. The home team often kicked possession away and poorly, and Pethy are normally good at attacking from deep, but on this day they struggled to make any inroads.

The backs struggled to attack with any real pace, the ball was often shipped along the line gaining no real ground, or it was often stopped in mid-field by a defensive line that was constantly bordering on being offside. In the rucks and mauls the Petherton forwards struggled to stop the home team from disrupting the ball and placing themselves on the wrong side, slowing their possession. Both teams were giving away penalties, which made it a very stop start game.

With only 5 minutes of the half to go and nothing to show for it, Pethy were awarded yet another penalty for the home side handling the ball on the floor in a ruck. Lloyd Williams had a good penalty kick to the corner, from which the forwards went close with a drive from the lineout and a few pick and goes from the base of the ruck. Eventually the ball was released to Lloyd Williams who had Matt Brown charging at a gap between defenders. Williams released the ball at the last moment, which saw Brown power his way over from a few meters out dragging a few defenders with him. Tom Williams easily converted.

Before the half-time whistle the Pethy pack were really beginning to dominate in the scrums and were often pushing the home team off their own ball. Tom Williams had a long range shot at goal from yet another penalty, but did not make good contact and it went wide.

The start of the second half turned nasty early on, which started when Simon Gingell had his head stood on just after the whistle, and resulted in the first of several flare-ups. The scuffles continued throughout the second half, and at the very next scrum Harley Brown was also being kicked in the head after it had been collapsed. The normally quiet Matt Glanville stood in to stop it happening, a few punches were traded, and Glanville and the Culverhaysians tighthead prop were both yellow carded. The only real positive that was taken from this is how Pethy have now made it a regular event that when teams try to intimidate them, they front up and raise their game. In recent years they would back down and often end up losing the game, but they turned up the intensity, big tackles went in all over the pitch and all the players upped their aggression around the ruck and tackle areas.

With the home team constantly infringing, Pethy were able to work their way up the pitch with penalties, and as soon as they were in range for Tom Williams, captain James Lees asked him to have a go. What happened next was something the Pethy side has never experienced before; he missed from close range near the posts. After a long clearance into the Pethy half, Petherton again got into the Culverhaysians 22 after some aggressive runs by both forwards and backs. They were awarded another penalty in a kickable position, but again Williams missed.

For the next 10 minutes, the play went from end to end, with a few clean breaks from both teams, the most noticeable for Pethy was when Tom Williams had a run from his own 22, off-loading to Harley Brown who then ran to the opposite 22m, with a few sidesteps and breaking of tackles along the way.

After the home team gained possession through a handling error and put in yet another kick to the corner, just inside their own 22m, Pethy were unable to win their own lineout and the ball found its way to the home teams hooker who was now playing scrum half. He made a break behind the lineout and the closest Pethy defender was obstructed by the referee, so the attacker continued his run and managed to release the ball to their speedy left winger, who rounded the remaining defenders and went in to score. It was well converted into the wind to bring the scores level.

Realising that the home team was tiring and being awarded so many penalties and free kicks, Pethy began to take them quickly, and the home team tackled the man without retreating on every occasion. To the frustration of Pethy and their few travelling supporters it went unpunished. The home team rarely touched the ball from here on. When they did, there was the odd powerful run by their big number 8 who made some good yardage, or it was kicked long, but they never again got into a scoring position.

Pethy continued to battle hard and made ground, they even got close to the line with a few forward drives from line outs. However, they began to try too hard to score off the first phase, which resulted in turning the ball over in the tackle area. Pethy tried hard but were unable to get the break or put the phases together without losing possession at the crucial points, and the winning try never came. Tom Williams continued to struggle to get to grips with the type of ball and the wind, and saw several of his attempts on goal go astray.

In the last play of the game Pethy were awarded yet another penalty, this time in front of the posts on the 22 metre line. With the whole team backing Tom Williams to try and win the game, he again missed. The game ended in a draw and Pethy felt hard done by. After the game Tom Williams received a lot of friendly banter, but no one was too concerned because he has gotten Petherton out of many a tight spot with his trusty right boot in the past.

The few positives that came from a bad day at the office were that Dan Steward finally got on for his first team debut, and the Pethy defence was again almost unbreakable. The Petherton forwards also dominated in the scrumage against a bigger home pack, driving Culverhaysians off several of their own scrums.

Pethy were lucky that with the other league results, in which Wiveliscombe were turned over at home by the ever improving Burnham, this means that the gap between Pethy in third and the rest of the league is still two points. The next league game is in two weeks against Martock at home and Pethy will be hoping to put in a much better performance for their last home league match of the season.

Tries: M.Brown

Cons: T.Williams

Pens:

Drop Goals:

Team: 15. T.Williams, 14. S.Pearn (Rep: D.Steward, 65), 13. C.Burge, 12. Havill, 11. B.Williams, 10. L.Williams, 9. Jarvis, 1. H.Brown, 2. Glanville, 3. Webber, 4. Coles, 5. M.Burge, 6. Gingell, 7. M.Brown, 8. Lees.

		Petherton draw again after a disappointing performance 17/03/07 - Somerset One: Old Culverhaysians 7 v 7 North Petherton Report by Lloyd Williams This will be a game to forget for most of the North Petherton players. It started with poor turnouts at training during the previous week and ended with a draw against a side that they really should have beaten. Pethy travelled away with only one replacement and the bus did not arrive at the away ground until 10 minutes before kick-off, allowing just enough time for a brief warm up, although the kick-off was delayed until 2.40. During the first half Pethy had the advantage of the strong cross winds blowing across the pitch. They had most of the possession and territory, but were unable to string enough phases together to get any scores. From the first time the Pethy backs got their hands on the ball it was clear to see that they were going to make breaks and all they had to do was play sensible rugby and not rush. However, it never really clicked, with both backs and forwards making too many handling errors throughout the first half. In the wind neither side’s lineout was producing any clean quick ball which the Pethy backs rely on heavily. The home team often kicked possession away and poorly, and Pethy are normally good at attacking from deep, but on this day they struggled to make any inroads. The backs struggled to attack with any real pace, the ball was often shipped along the line gaining no real ground, or it was often stopped in mid-field by a defensive line that was constantly bordering on being offside. In the rucks and mauls the Petherton forwards struggled to stop the home team from disrupting the ball and placing themselves on the wrong side, slowing their possession. Both teams were giving away penalties, which made it a very stop start game. With only 5 minutes of the half to go and nothing to show for it, Pethy were awarded yet another penalty for the home side handling the ball on the floor in a ruck. Lloyd Williams had a good penalty kick to the corner, from which the forwards went close with a drive from the lineout and a few pick and goes from the base of the ruck. Eventually the ball was released to Lloyd Williams who had Matt Brown charging at a gap between defenders. Williams released the ball at the last moment, which saw Brown power his way over from a few meters out dragging a few defenders with him. Tom Williams easily converted. Before the half-time whistle the Pethy pack were really beginning to dominate in the scrums and were often pushing the home team off their own ball. Tom Williams had a long range shot at goal from yet another penalty, but did not make good contact and it went wide. The start of the second half turned nasty early on, which started when Simon Gingell had his head stood on just after the whistle, and resulted in the first of several flare-ups. The scuffles continued throughout the second half, and at the very next scrum Harley Brown was also being kicked in the head after it had been collapsed. The normally quiet Matt Glanville stood in to stop it happening, a few punches were traded, and Glanville and the Culverhaysians tighthead prop were both yellow carded. The only real positive that was taken from this is how Pethy have now made it a regular event that when teams try to intimidate them, they front up and raise their game. In recent years they would back down and often end up losing the game, but they turned up the intensity, big tackles went in all over the pitch and all the players upped their aggression around the ruck and tackle areas. With the home team constantly infringing, Pethy were able to work their way up the pitch with penalties, and as soon as they were in range for Tom Williams, captain James Lees asked him to have a go. What happened next was something the Pethy side has never experienced before; he missed from close range near the posts. After a long clearance into the Pethy half, Petherton again got into the Culverhaysians 22 after some aggressive runs by both forwards and backs. They were awarded another penalty in a kickable position, but again Williams missed. For the next 10 minutes, the play went from end to end, with a few clean breaks from both teams, the most noticeable for Pethy was when Tom Williams had a run from his own 22, off-loading to Harley Brown who then ran to the opposite 22m, with a few sidesteps and breaking of tackles along the way. After the home team gained possession through a handling error and put in yet another kick to the corner, just inside their own 22m, Pethy were unable to win their own lineout and the ball found its way to the home teams hooker who was now playing scrum half. He made a break behind the lineout and the closest Pethy defender was obstructed by the referee, so the attacker continued his run and managed to release the ball to their speedy left winger, who rounded the remaining defenders and went in to score. It was well converted into the wind to bring the scores level. Realising that the home team was tiring and being awarded so many penalties and free kicks, Pethy began to take them quickly, and the home team tackled the man without retreating on every occasion. To the frustration of Pethy and their few travelling supporters it went unpunished. The home team rarely touched the ball from here on. When they did, there was the odd powerful run by their big number 8 who made some good yardage, or it was kicked long, but they never again got into a scoring position. Pethy continued to battle hard and made ground, they even got close to the line with a few forward drives from line outs. However, they began to try too hard to score off the first phase, which resulted in turning the ball over in the tackle area. Pethy tried hard but were unable to get the break or put the phases together without losing possession at the crucial points, and the winning try never came. Tom Williams continued to struggle to get to grips with the type of ball and the wind, and saw several of his attempts on goal go astray. In the last play of the game Pethy were awarded yet another penalty, this time in front of the posts on the 22 metre line. With the whole team backing Tom Williams to try and win the game, he again missed. The game ended in a draw and Pethy felt hard done by. After the game Tom Williams received a lot of friendly banter, but no one was too concerned because he has gotten Petherton out of many a tight spot with his trusty right boot in the past. The few positives that came from a bad day at the office were that Dan Steward finally got on for his first team debut, and the Pethy defence was again almost unbreakable. The Petherton forwards also dominated in the scrumage against a bigger home pack, driving Culverhaysians off several of their own scrums. Pethy were lucky that with the other league results, in which Wiveliscombe were turned over at home by the ever improving Burnham, this means that the gap between Pethy in third and the rest of the league is still two points. The next league game is in two weeks against Martock at home and Pethy will be hoping to put in a much better performance for their last home league match of the season. Tries: M.Brown Cons: T.Williams Pens: Drop Goals: Team: 15. T.Williams, 14. S.Pearn (Rep: D.Steward, 65), 13. C.Burge, 12. Havill, 11. B.Williams, 10. L.Williams, 9. Jarvis, 1. H.Brown, 2. Glanville, 3. Webber, 4. Coles, 5. M.Burge, 6. Gingell, 7. M.Brown, 8. Lees.

		©2007 North Petherton RFC

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