Under 15s reach round 2 of the Somerset Junior Cup

04/02/07 - Somerset Junior Cup Round One: Minehead 12 v 24 North Petherton

Report by Myles Skinner

This was a successful trip to the seaside for North Petherton Under 15s in the first round of the county cup, with Pethy qualifying for the last eight.

The weather conditions were perfect for running rugby, which is how Pethy started the game, playing high tempo rugby and keeping the ball alive. The early signs looked good until a dropped pass hacked on by Minehead resulted in a try under the posts, followed by a conversion.

The side regrouped and it was not long before Pethy got back into the match. A penalty given inside Minehead's 22 was tapped by quick thinking fly-half Myles Skinner who had spotted an overlap out wide, and two passes later a try was scored by Second Row Sam Butler. Next to score was Tom Popham after a great solo run through the scattered Minehead defence.

Pethy then had three tries disallowed in quick succession, apparently held up over the line, but eventually Minehead succumbed to the pressure and gave away a penalty ten metres out from the line, which Prop Sam Mularczyk tapped quickly to himself and bulldozed over for a try.

In the second half, Pethy were now playing up the slope and spent a good deal of the half defending. Minehead are a big, physical, and aggressive team and quite a bit of niggle was starting to creep in to the game.

A free-kick was given away after an indiscretion by the Minehead scrum and Pethy chose to clear their lines. Minehead then attacked but the ball was turned over for Pethy to again clear the ball up-field, which the Minehead full-back then knocked-on. No.8 Ty Harris picked up from the base of the resulting scrum and ran up the blind side but the ball ended up being taken into touch by a Minehead player. From the lineout inside Minehead's 22, a driving maul was setup and for the second game in a row, hooker James Popham dropped over the line to score. For the lads to win away, and not play particularly well, this was a great result for the team.

Tries: Sam Butler, Tom Popham, Sam Mularczyk, James Popham

Cons: Tom Popham (2)

Pens:

Drop Goals: