Great result in Bristol sees Pethy move level with second-placed Nailsea

The North Petherton pack put in another outstanding effort at the weekend to ensure a typically hard-fought victory at Broad Plain. Second-half tries from Kev Rybaruk, Matt Brown and Andy Agar gave Pethy the win, as they also won without conceding a point for the second league match running. Mike Coles and John Webber were again at the forefront of a great forward effort from Pethy, whilst the centre pairing of Matt Foad and Rob Havill formed a wall in defence to help keep the home side scoreless for 80 minutes. Read the match report here.

When North Petherton slipped to a disappointing defeat away at Bristol Barbarians just before Christmas, it looked as if they had blown their chances of promotion for this season. However, two wins in Bristol in successive weekends, coupled with two defeats in a row for second-placed Nailsea has seen Pethy draw level on points with them in the Somerset One table and give themselves a second chance that they would not have expected to get.

However, there are still six league matches remaining, including tough matches away to Nailsea and Wiveliscombe, as well as home matches against league leaders Burnham and fourth placed Old Culverhaysians. Even the home match to come against Combe Down no longer appears to be straight-forward given their excellent results since christmas. All of the weekends results can be seen below.

Tribute Somerset 1 Results - Saturday 9th February 2008

Bristol Barbarians 3 - 12 Imperial
Broad Plain 0 - 19 North Petherton
Combe Down 42 - 0 Crewkerne
Keynsham II 40 - 20 Martock
Nailsea & Backwell 5 - 17 Burnham on Sea
Old Culverhaysians 13 - 13 Wiveliscombe

The Seconds went without a match for the second week running after they discovered that their scheduled league opponents Crewkerne Seconds had dropped out of the Somerset Three South division three weeks ago. However, no-one informed the club and they only discovered this when they arrived at Crewkerne on Saturday to find them preparing for a friendly against Castle Cary. For the time being they have not yet been taken out of the league table, so Pethy did gain 2 points for a walkover victory. Pethy remain in Fifth but will likely drop down a place if Crewkerne's results are removed. This is because Petherton will lose the four points that they have been awarded for two walkover victories against them this season. All of the weekends results can be seen below.

Tribute Somerset 3 South Results - Saturday 9th February 2008

Burnham on S II 19 - 41 Midsomer Norton IV
Castle Cary 47 - 0 Tor III
Crewkerne II AWO North Petherton II
Minehead Barbarians III HWO Hornets III
Taunton III 18 - 44 Chard III
Wiveliscombe II HWO Wells III

Petherton's young Colts side were also in action at home on Saturday afternoon against local rivals Bridgwater & Albion. Despite being up against it for most of the match they gave a good account of themselves against a strong Albion team, who won the match 22-10. Read the match report here.

This coming weekend sees another must-win match for North Petherton's Firsts when they host Old Culverhaysians. With Nailsea facing a difficult away trip to Wiveliscombe, Petherton must win to keep up the pressure on the second-placed side. Culverhaysians comfortably beat Pethy in Bath earlier this season.

The Seconds will also be at home this weekend, and will also face a tough encounter against third-placed Midsomer Norton Fourths, who beat Petherton by a large margin in the reverse fixture in October. Both matches kick-off at 2:30pm.

There will also be three home junior matches on Sunday morning. The Colts will be playing Gordano, whilst the Under 14s and Under 16s will be playing Wellington. The Under 13s are away to their Wellington counterparts. Kick-off is at 11am.