With most of the pack playing the day before, this was always going to be a tough test. More injuries and with many second team players unavailable, meant that it was a big shake up in the backs. Foad who had only ever played 10 once before and not known for his kicking went 10, Matt Brown was called from the back row to fill a hole in the centre, Chris Wand who was back after injury and a holiday partnered him, and ex-Albion colt Chris Powell came onto the wing. Finally Ben Williams had to cover at fullback. Cameron Kirk volunteered to be replacement back last minute after several players didn’t appear.

Going down the pitch first half Pethy tried hard to use Brown and Wand up the middle, but playing several players out of position, the timing was off and the moves were limited. This produced a high number of handling errors, so Pethy used their advantage up front and concentrated on running off short passes from Foad and picking up and driving around the fringes, which was working extremely well. It was making ground and keeping possession. The opposition had a fairly light weight pack and Pethy forwards made it hard for them to feed their dangerous looking backs. The larger Pethy pack pushed them backwards in most of the scrums and dominated most other areas, and this meant that they kept possession for the majority of the first half.

When the home team did get the ball they often had to kick the ball up field. When the opposition did run the ball it was only good cover tackling by the back three that kept them out. However 10 minutes before half-time the home team broke through a dog leg in the Pethy backline with some quick hands and went on to score, which was a shame for Pethy after all the hard work the team had put into their defence. The conversion was good, and a penalty was added soon after as the Wells backs started to stretch the Pethy defence and they conceded penalties as a result. A break away try by the speedy Wells full-back then put the home team in a commanding position at the turnaround.

The second half the home team tried to spread the ball wide on the possession they got early on. However, the Pethy pack continued to make things hard for them. They kept possession for long periods of time, driving around the fringes and crashing up off Foad. Unfortunately, the excellent tackling and speed at the breakdown of the young Wells team continued to thwart Pethy just when they looked like forcing their way through.

It was not until the last quarter when the forwards began to tire, that the home team began to take control of possession. As a result they scored several well worked tries through their backs as they put a now tired looking Petherton side to the sword. Pethy battled hard until the end but showed little attacking options in the backs, but they did extremely well considering that most of them were out of position and had not trained or even played together before.

The forwards were outstanding, especially as that they had had a big physical battle the day before. All carried the ball with aggression and showed great commitment in defence. Simon Gingell again put in another whole-hearted performance in the back row. Ever improving 2nd team player Lee Hughes came on mid way through the second half, putting in some good tackles and raising his game to that of those around him. In the backs both Chris Powell and Luke Williams did will, they were constantly tested under the high ball, had to made numerous important tackles and when they did get their hands on the ball showed a willingness to run it back, with both making some good half breaks.

Pethy are hoping to be at full strength for Broad plain away next week. Powerhouse Marine Chris Burge, who returned on R’n’R this weekend, may also come into the equation in the backline as Pethy hope to get some of their injured players back into action.

H/T: 17-0

Tries:

Cons:

Pens:

Drop Goals:

Team: 15. B.Williams, 14. Luke Williams, 13. Wand, 12. M.Brown, 11. Powell, 10. Foad, 9. Rybaruk, 1. H.Brown, 2. Pocock, 3. Webber (Rep. M.Burge, 50), 4. Coles, 5. Kingston (Rep. Hughes, 65), 6. Harvey, 7. Gingell, 8. Lees. Reps Unused: 18. Glanville, 19. Kirk.