The newly formed Beggars Brook Rugby Association, mostly comprising ex-players and committee members, sponsored this match. This meant there was a good-sized home crowd to watch this local derby.

After a run of intense league games for Pethy, this annual memorial cup match was something of an anti-climax without the pressure of having to win to maintain their promotion challenge. There were several changes from their last match, mostly in the pack where props Matt Burge and Pete Kingston were unavailable due to illness, and flanker Matt Brown was missing due to injury. The continued absence of prop John Webber and No.8 James Lees through injury meant a re-shuffle and Petherton’s set-piece play was very scrappy as a result.

The more relaxed attitude before the match was carried onto the pitch as Taunton dominated the early collisions and the scrum as Pethy showed the visitors too much respect. Too many missed tackles allowed Taunton to continually break the gain line and they dominated the opening 15 minutes, although some dogged last-ditch defence and crucial turnovers in their own 22 kept Pethy in the game.

However, the pressure eventually told as several quick phases of play sucked in the Pethy defence and Taunton made no mistake in taking advantage of their extra numbers on the left to score near the corner. The swirling wind made kicking difficult all afternoon and the tricky conversion was missed.

Playing down the slope and with the wind, Pethy had to make something of this advantage before the break, and they gradually began to gain some territory inside the Taunton half. With the scrum struggling, Pethy managed to gain some good ground through lineout catch-and-drives, where flanker Keith Robinson was proving to be a very able replacement for Lees jumping at the front.

When Pethy managed to spread the ball wide they finally looked dangerous and some good breaks by Lloyd Williams and Matt Foad carried them into the Taunton 22. A Petherton scrum on the 22 was just about won and quick ball along the backline soon put centre Gavin Hancock into half a gap, and he showed good strength and pace to burst through and score near the posts. Bridgwater & Albion player Hancock was guesting for his old club with regular centres Russ Williams and Rob Havill also unavailable to play. The conversion into the wind was missed to leave the score tied at 5-5.

Petherton were then pegged back into their own half as Taunton took control of the game again. However, they were unable to make the pressure count and some good defence forced a penalty just inside the Pethy half. A good kick to touch by Lloyd Williams gave Pethy a good position on the Taunton 22. Petherton’s forwards then produced an excellent drive from the lineout which carried over into several quick phases of play as they smashed their way towards the try-line. Quick ball was sent out to right of the posts where Lloyd Williams was in plenty of space to run through and score. The conversion was again missed but Petherton went into half time with a lead of 10-5.

Playing up the slope and into the wind, Petherton were always going to find it tough in the second-half, but they self-destructed right from the kick-off. After collecting the deep kick, a long pass out to Hancock in the centre was caught by the wind and landed at his feet where Taunton’s backs swarmed over the loose ball to pick it up and score in the corner.

This seemed to knock the stuffing out of the Petherton side and Taunton scored again quickly when a good switch in the centre caught Pethy’s defence off-guard, allowing their winger through a big hole to score near the posts. The first conversion of the match was then made and Petherton were 17-10 behind.

They were not helped when they then lost Andy Agar and Ben Harvey to injury, causing another re-shuffle in pack that saw Rob Kearle come on to prop, with Mike Coles switching back to his more familiar position at lock alongside replacement Lee Hughes. With several players on the bench, Pethy also made some un-enforced changes and were able to bring on scrum-half Neil Lennox for his first appearance since injuring his hand at the end of September.

Taunton also had a large squad for this match and they made several changes during the second-half as both side’s play became scrappy at times. However, Taunton spent the rest of the match camped mostly in the Petherton half. They scored 2 further tries but were kept out for the last 15 minutes by some defiant defence. Pethy tried to counter-attack from deep and some good breaks by Colt Steve Potter from full-back and Steve Ladd on the wing almost created another try for the home side, but by then they were well beaten by a good Taunton team.

For Petherton, Andy Agar and Simon Gingell worked tirelessly and were a constant thorn in Taunton’s side, turning the ball over throughout the match. Flanker’s Keith Robinson and Chris Burge also stood out despite the dominance of the Taunton forwards. Vet Mike Coles kindly stepped in at Prop for a good section of the game and up against a strong opposition held his own well. Pethy’s backs did look dangerous when given some good ball, although that did not happen often enough. Steve Potter coped well at full-back, filling in for Tom Williams whose sore shoulder was not risked for this match. Winger Steve Ladd also showed glimpses of his tremendous pace when given the ball. Generally, Pethy were pleased with the performance considering the changes in the squad, but their usually tight defence was not evident throughout the game, mainly due to the poor attendance at training and new players in the squad who have been absent from training for some time.

There are now three matches left for Petherton this season, effectively three cup finals for promotion away to Crewkerne, home to Burnham, and then away to Wiveliscombe. At the end of the game Captain Lloyd Williams stressed the need for just one month of commitment now from every player to train twice a week and make sure they achieve the promotion that everyone at the club targeted at the beginning of the season.

Many thanks to the Beggars Brook Association, who not only sponsored the match ball, but also supplied both teams with beverages afterwards.

H/T: 10-5

Tries: Hancock, L.Williams

Cons:

Pens:

Drop Goals:

Team: 15. Potter, 14. B.Williams, 13. Hancock, 12. Foad, 11. Ladd, 10. L.Williams, 9. Rybaruk (Rep. Lennox, 50), 1. H.Brown, 2. Glanville (Rep. Pocock, 60), 3. Coles, 4. Harvey (Rep. Kearle, 55), 5. Gingell, 6. C.Burge, 7. Robinson, 8. Agar (Rep. Hughes, 55). Reps not used: T.Williams, Lloyd Steward, D Rae