Victory over leaders Burnham leaves Pethy on verge of promotion
North Petherton secured a great victory over local rivals and league leaders Burnham-On-Sea at the weekend to leave themselves within reach of achieving promotion for only the second time in their history. They must now travel to Wiveliscombe for their final league match on Saturday knowing that a win will secure second place in Somerset One. This is about as tough a fixture that Pethy could face with promotion at stake, and it will take all of the effort, commitment and passion that they displayed against an impressive Burnham side to overcome another of Pethy's local rivals.
On Saturday, Burnham were left to rue a couple of missed opportunities in the first-half before Pethy responded to going 9-7 behind in the second half with a tremendous team effort, forcing mistakes from the visitors and making their domination count with two further tries. With a 13 point lead established by Pethy, Burnham threw everything at the home side in the last 15 minutes but they were denied any further points and failed to score a try for the first time this season. Read the match report here.
In other results in Somerset 1, Nailsea made sure that Pethy will have to win their remaining match by winning away at Keynsham Seconds. The wins for Petherton and Nailsea mean that Wiveliscombe can no longer get promoted despite their narrow victory at Bristol Barbarians. Bottom side Martock were finally rewarded for a season of committed effort with their first win of the season over fellow strugglers Crewkerne. All of the weekends results can be seen below.
Tribute Somerset 1 Results - Saturday 12th April 2008
Bristol Barbarians 15 - 17 Wiveliscombe
Broad Plain 32 - 3 Old Culverhaysians
Imperial 0 - 15 Combe Down
Keynsham II 10 - 34 Nailsea & Backwell
Martock 17 - 14 Crewkerne
North Petherton 22 - 9 Burnham on SeaWith just one round of matches left to go in Somerset One it is now down to just Petherton and Nailsea to secure the second promotion spot. Burnham still have a one point lead over Pethy in first place and only some kind of sporting miracle will prevent them from securing top spot when they host bottom of the table Martock on Saturday. Nailsea will be at home against 5th placed Broad Plain, and whilst they are always tricky opponents, it is unlikely that Nailsea will slip up. Despite being out of promotion contention, Pethy can expect no favours at Wiveliscombe, so it will be another tough and exciting afternoon of rugby. The table below shows the run-in for the top three sides: -
Pethy Seconds were left frustrated again when, not for the first time this season, they were left without a match when their scheduled Somerset Three South opponents Hornets Thirds cried off. Despite the Somerset Three South league being much more competitive this season, several sides have still struggled to find enough players to fulfill every fixture. This previous weekend was no exception with four matches cancelled, and there are only 5 (including Pethy Seconds) out of the 13 teams in the league who have managed to raise a side for every match. However, the walkover victory awarded to Pethy means that they remain in fourth place, and a win in their last match at home against Minehead Thirds could still see them finish third, a marked improvement from last season. All of the weekends results can be seen below.
Tribute Somerset 3 South Results - Saturday 12th April 2008
Chard III HWO Tor III
Minehead Barbarians III 45 - 24 Midsomer Norton IV
North Petherton II HWO Hornets III
Taunton III HWO Crewkerne II
Wellington III 0 - 90 Castle Cary
Wiveliscombe II HWO Burnham on S II