For the first time this season there were no scrum-halves available for either Pethy team. Neil Lennox and Tom Stanley are still injured, Kev Rybaruk and Chris Wand are on holiday, and the versatile Stuart Pearn was working. This meant that Matt Foad, normally a centre, started at scrum-half. The only other unavailabilities were Simon Gingell and Keith Robinson in the back row. Despite this, the Pethy line up still looked as strong as it has done for a while.

When Pethy traveled to Martock in November they ran out 117-0 winners. That match was dominated by the attacking lines and pace of the Pethy backs, having been given quick and clean ball by the forwards throughout. This match was mostly a reverse of that with the forwards dominating more of the possession but still seeing Pethy win handsomely.

Playing up the slope first half Pethy got off to a rapid start. A penalty was conceded by Martock at the first breakdown following the kick-off, which Lloyd Williams kicked to within 5 meters of the line. The forwards quickly set up a driving maul from the ensuing lineout, and with less than a minute of the game gone Matt Brown then scored the first try after the Pethy forwards drove over the line.

Tom williams missed the difficult conversion and for the next 10 minutes Martock enjoyed their best period of the match. They gained possession from a Pethy handling error and counter-attacked quickly, putting the Martock 7 through a gap in the Pethy back line, before he was well tackled by Tom Williams and the covering Matt Foad inside the 22. Pethy then conceded a couple of kickable penalties in quick succession, but to their credit Martock decided that they wanted to score tries and chose to run them rather than take a straight-forward 3 points. Unfortunately for them Pethy's defence was strong and they were kept out.

The rest of the half was dominated by the home side and by half-time they had scored 52 unanswered points. The tries were scored by Andy Agar, Russ Williams (2), Tom Williams, Ben Williams, Steve Ladd and another by Matt Brown. Tom Williams converted 6 of them.

Most were good team efforts, with forwards and backs showing pace and good hands. The visitors tackled well but the quick ball produced at the breakdown by the forwards meant that the Pethy back line was often out-numbering a mixed and un organised Martock defence. The speed of their attacks meant that Pethy also had forwards in the back line on several occasions, but they generally kept the attacks going with some good off-loading.

Despite having such a comfortable lead, Pethy made hard work of the second half, and their standard of play was no where near that of the first half. The visitors continued to tackle well and began to slow the ball down at the rucks. The number of Pethy handling errors increased greatly, especially in the contact area. To make matters worse a couple of re-shuffles in the team due to injuries took away a bit of Pethy’s structure.

The first try of the half took 15 minutes to arrive, and it resulted in Tom Williams and Russ Williams getting injured in the very untidy build-up. This meant that flanker Matt Brown went into the centre and 18 year-old Luke Williams made his debut on the wing with speedster Ladd moving to full-back. In total a further 6 tries were scored before the whistle. Rob Havill completed a hat-trick, Agar and Ladd both picked up a second try each, and James Lees also got onto the scoresheet. Lloyd Williams took over the kicking and converted 5 of the 6.

The second half was littered with mistakes and most of the tries came from individual breaks as the visitors tired, and it was not the second-half performance that they had hoped for as they prepare for a tough cup game against Wells this coming weekend.

Everyone had their good moments on the pitch and all were guilty of a few mistakes, but ultimately this was a good game for Pethy to get the Christmas break out of their systems. The forwards linked well with the backs, and dominated at the scrum. However the lineout's were still not functioning fully, mainly due to the lack of training as a unit.

Andy Agar was everywhere for Pethy, often going on powerful runs with ball in hand and making big yards in the process. No.8 James Lees often found himself in the backs and showed good decision making throughout, showing some slick hands playing a part in several tries. The backs didn’t quite fire on all cylinders, but made some good breaks off first phase moves. Young Luke Williams had a solid 1st team debut after only recently giving up football for rugby.

Before the match Pethy’s new shorts were officially launched, kindly sponsored by John Evans Painting and Decorating. John is also one of the club's coaches and has been a club member for many years.

H/T: 52-0

Tries: M.Brown (2), Agar (2), R.Williams (2), T.Williams, B.Williams, Ladd (2), Havill (3), Lees

Cons: T.Williams (6), L.Williams (5)

Pens:

Drop Goals:

Team: 15. T.Williams (Rep. Webber, 60), 14. Ladd, 13. R.Williams (Rep. Luke Williams, 55), 12. Havill, 11. B.Williams, 10. L.Williams, 9. Foad, 1. M.Burge, 2. Glanville, 3. Kingston (Rep. H.Brown, 50), 4. Coles, 5. Lees, 6. Doyle, 7. Agar, 8. M.Brown.