Yet again Pethy were unable to field the same team for two weeks running, but the changes made had not weakened the team. Specialist blindside Steve Doyle returned, as did ball carrying centre Russ Williams. A sponsor’s day meant there was a good sized crowd to watch an important league match.

Playing up the slope and with the wind, Pethy made an excellent start to the match. They gained early possession and territory, but a missed penalty kick to touch lost control of the ball for Pethy, and play was brought back for the first scrum of the game. Both packs seemed of equal size, and in the previous fixture between the two, Pethy’s forwards had struggled against a similar pack. However, this time the first scrum set the tone for the rest of the match, and the Pethy pack pushed them back at a rate of knots throughout. When the visitors did manage to win their own ball, they did so whilst still moving backwards.

Both teams were guilty of rushed and sometimes frantic play, resulting in a number of turnovers and unforced errors. Pethy gained a bit of composure first, and took control of possession and territory. After a few searching kicks behind the Culverhaysians defence and good pressure following-up, Pethy found themselves on the visitors goal line. Several quick phases of play followed, in which the ball was driven up around the fringes before being taken up the centre of the pitch through a powerful run by Russ Williams. Quick ball and a swift change in the direction of the attack then saw forwards and backs combine well to send flanker Matt Brown over for a try near the touchline. The conversion was narrowly missed.

With the players lifted, it was not long before Pethy worked their way back into the visiting 22, and they looked to be in another good scoring position before the visitors handled on the deck, allowing Tom Williams to slot over an easy penalty to extend Pethy's lead to 8-0. Unfortunately, Petherton then conceded an unlucky penalty almost immediately from the re-start when they were penalised for an accidental offside. The visiting 10 duly slotted it over for 8-3.

Tom Williams had another two unsuccessful attempts on goal after some good Pethy pressure during the middle of the first-half, but they were unable to make a clean break through the aggressive defence of the visitors. Unfortunately for Pethy, prop John Webber, who had been enjoying a good run of form, then picked up a shoulder injury during this period and had to go off, although powerhouse Pete Kingston came on in his place and the pack continued to dominate the scrums.

As the half went on, the visitors made it harder and harder for Pethy to get quick clean ball to their backs, resulting in Pethy starting to force the game and becoming guilty of playing the visitors at their own style of play, limiting the width of the game.

The visitors tested Pethy’s defence in the backs at the start with limited success, and resorted to playing mostly through their forwards, using driving mauls to work their way down the pitch. They had little success though, as the Pethy pack was up to the task and held them out until half-time. The only concern for the pack at the break was the lineouts, which were not producing enough ball, but good work by all disrupted the opposition’s lineouts on many occasions throughout the game.

The first 25 minutes of the second-half did not go to plan. As Pethy worked their way downfield they became guilty of conceding penalties, which were sent deep up-field, reversing the pressure straight away. As the away team took control of the game, Pethy found it hard to get their hands on the ball, and as a result started to concede penalties in kickable positions. As he did earlier in the season, the Culverhaysians fly-half punished Pethy each time, slotting over three kicks to leave Petherton 12–8 down.

The Pethy defence was still holding firm, but errors in attack were costing the team field position every time. Heads did not drop, and the team rallied around each other, but it was looking harder and harder for them to get back into the game and get the try that they needed.

Things went from bad to worse when full-back Tom Williams had to be replaced due to a re-occurrence of his shoulder injury after an hour. He had looked dangerous throughout with ball in hand, and was running the barrage of long range kicks back at the visitors with some success, allowing Pethy to keep hold of possession and attack again.

Pethy tried hard to get the ball through the hands of their backs, but unforced errors and good pressure by the visiting defence was stifling their back play. A break by centre Matt Foad in the visitors 22 looked to have produced the score needed, but he was brought down a few meters short and the chance was lost as the visitors cleared their lines.

As Pethy continued to throw everything at the Culverhaysians defence, lost possession was giving the visitor's dangerous looking wingers a chance to attack, but again good defence stopped them quickly before they got into open space.

Both teams were beginning to feel the tension as the game entered the last 10 minutes, and Pethy finally got their act together to rescue the result that they needed. The Pethy pack was still dominating at the scrum and began to up the intensity at rucks and mauls, often turning the ball over as the visitors tried desparately to protect their lead.

A penalty outside the Culverhaysians 22 was then kicked to the corner rather than for goal, as time was running out and a try was required. Frustratingly, the throw-in to the lineout was not straight and a scrum was conceded. However, a mighty drive by the pack turned the ball over and possession was regained. A good back row drive followed, and quick ball was produced out to the backs, where a good dummy run by Russ Williams finally created a hole in the Culverhaysians defence, allowing Lloyd Williams to put Matt Foad into space, and he cut a great line of running to ghost through and score to the right of the posts, much to the delight of Pethy's player's and to the relief of the home crowd. Lloyd Williams converted for a 15-12 lead.

With only a few minutes to go Pethy quickly got their hands on the ball after the visitors tried to force the ball wide and knocked on. From the scrum, the ball went down the short side, and following a great dummy, which even surprised him, replacement full-back Steven Potter was through. However, the covering defence got across and the ball was lost forward by the supporting player, who was tackled just before the line.

With a minute left the forwards produced yet another mighty scrum, turning the ball over again. This time they kept it close and picked and drove around the fringes, eating up the remaining time deep inside the visiting 22. With all getting involved, Pethy battered wave after wave around the fringe, and eventually from a meter, though he would say much more, the ball was fed to veteran and man mountain Mike Coles, who crashed his way through to score a rare try. The conversion was missed and the final whistle went.

The Petherton forwards were outstanding, and no one deserved a try more than Mike Coles, who even though he was 42 the following day, played non-stop all afternoon and put his body on the line at every breakdown. James Lees had yet another good game at 8, and props Matt Burge and Pete Kingston were everywhere, running the ball in hand and dominating in the scrums. The whole team defended well, with everyone working together, even when the forwards found themselves in the backline with the backs defending the fringes. It was the 4th league game in a row that no tries were conceded, although penalties in kickable positions still were.

Pethy's next league game is on the 1st of March when they travel to Nailsea and Backwell. This promises to be a massive game in determining promotion for this season, with Pethy now in second place and Nailsea in third. A bus is being organised for supporters that week, so please contact the club if you want to go.

H/T: 8-3

Tries: M.Brown, Foad, Coles

Cons: Lloyd Williams

Pens: T.Williams

Drop Goals:

Team: 15. T.Williams (Rep. Potter, 60), 14. Luke Williams, 13. R.Williams, 12. Foad, 11. B.Williams, 10. Lloyd Williams, 9. Rybaruk, 1. M.Burge, 2. Pocock (Rep. Glanville, 50), 3. Webber (Rep. Kingston, 20), 4. Coles, 5. Gingell, 6. Doyle, 7. M.Brown, 8. Lees.