With Lloyd and Russ Williams still injured, Tom Williams, who himself was making his comeback from a shoulder injury, started at 10, whilst veteran Mark Sutherland-Earl again started at full-back, increasing his club record tally of appearances. Pethy had flanker Andy Agar in the side again after a month out injured, and also called upon utility back Stuart Pearn, who was back on the bench after missing several games through work commitments.

Winning the toss, stand-in captain Matt Brown elected to play up the slight slope and into the sun. In the first-half Pethy had plenty of field position and territory. The forwards started on the front foot, dominating in the loose and pushing the home team's pack around. Unfortunately, the half was littered with handling errors, which often resulted in the home team booting the ball back downfield, making the Pethy forwards battle hard to make their way back into the Broad Plain half.

These errors cost Pethy early chances to go ahead. There were a few clean breaks by the backs, mainly in midfield by Havill, Foad and Tom Williams, but the final pass either went amiss or the ball was turned over by the aggressive home defence. The forwards also had their chances with a few charging runs around the fringes, but again the ball was lost, mainly in the contact area. The Petherton defence on the other hand was solid, even when having to defend deep in their own half. Close to the break, Tom Williams missed a penalty from wide out and the half was over. Pethy were a bit frustrated with the lack of a score, but were pleased with how they had dominated the game and with how their defence was holding up.

The second-half started in the best possible way for Pethy. Broad Plain had a lineout 15 meters from their line after sustained Petherton pressure from the kick-off. A good steal at the lineout saw the Pethy pack make easy work of the driving maul over the line, where scrum-half Kev Rybaruk touched down for the try. Tom Williams then neatly converted from wide out.

It wasn’t long before Pethy were again deep in the home team's half, this time through a couple of half breaks by the backs, with great support by the forwards keeping the attack going. Quick ruck ball then resulted in flanker Matt Brown crashing over from close range. The conversion was missed.

Next followed a period where Pethy had to defend and they struggled to get possession and control of the game. They also became guilty of conceding needless penalties and this meant that Broad Plain gained position deep in the Pethy 22. The Petherton pack competed well in the lineouts and made it hard for the home pack to get any momentum. This forced the home team to take the ball wide and crash it up through their big centres, but they were met with more great defence from the Petherton backs, and the team as a whole were defending well in the loose.

Eventually Pethy cleared their lines and made their way downfield again. After several quick phases of play, flanker Andy Agar found himself in midfield on the edge of the home team's 22. After he bounced off the first tackler, he was off, and he was then was tackled by several players, but stayed on his feet and powered his way through, and with the line close he held onto the ball and eventually scored under the posts, dragging several players over with him for a fine individual score. With the conversion the score was now 19 – 0.

The tide turned again after that and Pethy were driven back into their own half by a determined home team, as they searched for the score that would get them back into the match. They came close to the try-line after throwing the ball along the line a few times, combined with a couple of good drives by the Plain forwards. But the defence again held out, although in the process, Stuart Pearn, who had just replaced Luke Williams, got injured. Lloyd Williams, who was the only other replacement, came on for the last 10 minutes as Pethy held out for an important win.

The Petherton forwards were outstanding. The scrums, rucking and mauling were great sources of possession. They all worked tirelessly on a sunny afternoon. Andy Agar was everywhere for Pethy, whilst powerhouse Mike Coles and ever improving prop John Webber battled well throughout. In the backs Tom Williams looked dangerous in attack and the centre partnership of Matt Foad and Rob Havill was solid in defence and also looked dangerous in attack. All of the players were pleased with the result and with the way they had dominated large areas of the game, particularly the great commitment shown by all in defence.

After this result Pethy are now joint second. This weeks game, which is sponsored, is a massive game against Bath based Old Culverhaysians, who are one place below Pethy and ran out 29-7 winners when the sides met at the end of September.

H/T: 0-0

Tries: Rybaruk, M.Brown, Agar

Cons: T.Williams (2)

Pens:

Drop Goals:

Team: 15. Sutherland-Earl, 14. Luke Williams (Rep. S.Pearn, 60, Rep. Lloyd Williams, 70), 13. Havill, 12. Foad, 11. B.Williams, 10. T. Williams, 9. Rybaruk, 1. H.Brown, 2. Pocock, 3. Webber, 4. Coles, 5. Gingell, 6. Agar, 7. M.Brown, 8. Lees.