Excellent defence secures a hard-fought victory in Whitchurch

27/01/07 - Somerset One: Bristol Barbarians 0 v 13 North Petherton

Report by Lloyd Williams, as printed in the Bridgwater Mercury

The main positive for Petherton from this traditionally tough away test was that, for the fifth time this season, their well-organised defence did not concede a point.

Even though Pethy were unable to field the same side that had put the league leaders to the sword two weeks previously, they travelled confident in the side selected. Noticeable absences were powerhouse lock Mike Coles (Flu) and scavenging flanker Ross Finlayson, who is out for up to four weeks with a dead leg.

Apart from the first ten minutes, when the home side had good possession deep in the Pethy half, it was clear that the visitors' best chance to win was out wide. Eventually, Lloyd Williams and Tom Williams relieved the pressure with good clearance kicks and the rest of the half was spent in home territory.

Barbarians began to concede penalties at the breakdown and Tom Williams slotted one over for 3-0. After a string of good phases by the forwards, picking and driving well with Ben Harvey making many hard yards, Lloyd Williams threw a long pass for a certain try, but Chris Burge and Russ Williams both tried to catch it and the chance was lost.

After a second Tom Williams penalty goal, a scrum just outside the home 22 ended with Lloyd Williams fending off the first defender and running over between the posts. Tom Williams converted, making it 13-0 at half-time.

The second half did not go to plan at all for Pethy, as they struggled to get their hands on the ball as the home side mounted a spirited fightback. Only good defence from all 15 players kept out Barbarians' rolling mauls and attacks around the fringes.

When the home team did eventually cross the line, the ball was held up by flankers Simon Gingell and Matt Varcoe. Pethy went for goal with the first penalty they had in a kickable position and Tom Williams was on target but inches short. This was one of the few times that they got into the opposition half.

Their only other chance, soon afterwards, came when Lloyd Williams put a clever kick into the corner and it bounced almost perfectly for Tom Williams to gather over the line, but he was just unable to keep control of it.

The rest of the half saw too many poor decisions by players in key positions, which resulted in Pethy putting unnescessary pressure on themselves. Generally, the line-out had produced good ball throughout, but the scrums, under pressure from the start, began to be pushed off too easily and made it hard work for No 8 Matt Brown and scrum-half Karl Jarvis at the base. When the backs were given the ball, they were often too static and struggled to inject pace into the attack. Barbarians tackled hard and slowed down the Pethy ball going forward.

The team and coaches were happy with the two points, and they never felt that they were going to lose this one, but all were just frustrated that this week’s performance was not at the level they achieved two weeks previous against Old Sulians. Petherton now face an even tougher away test in Bristol next Saturday against Imperial, who beat Pethy in the reverse fixture back in October.

Tries: L.Williams

Cons: T.Williams

Pens: T.Williams (2)

Drop Goals:

Team: 15. T.Williams, 14. B.Williams (Rep. S.Pearn, 72), 13. R.Williams, 12. Havill, 11. C.Burge, 10. L.Williams, 9. Jarvis, 1. Glanville (Rep. Frost, 70), 2. McNeillie, 3. Webber, 4. Lees, 5. Harvey, 6. Varcoe, 7. Gingell, 8. M.Brown.