Pethy suffer frustrating defeat at Midsomer Norton

North Petherton's first Somerset Premier game of the season ended in a frustrating defeat, with a disallowed try for Pethy and a dubious try for the hosts proving the difference betweeen the sides in an indisciplined match. It was probably Pethy's lack of discipline that cost them most in the end, in a game that they could have won against a side who finished third in the division last season.

There were some positives for Pethy to take from the match, with their forwards performing particularly well throughout. They scored two great tries, the first fashioned by the forwards and finished off by Second-Row Simon Gingell. Their second was a well-executed training ground move scored by Winger Ben Williams. Read the match report here.

Other results from the weekend in the Somerset Premier indicate what a highly competitive division this promises to be over the coming season. Wells probably had the result of the day in beating Bristol Harlequins, coming from 24 nil behind to win against the side relegated from the Western Counties division. Burnham-On-Sea, the other side promoted from Somerset One last season along with Pethy, drew 19-19 at home against Tor. All of the weekend's results can be seen below.

Tribute Somerset Premier Results - Saturday 13th September 2008

Avon 22 - 34 Chard
Burnham on Sea 19 - 19 Tor
Chew Valley 18 - 13 Winscombe
Midsomer Norton 20 - 14 North Petherton
Stothert & Pitt 47 - 10 Old Sulians
Wells 26 - 24 Bristol Harlequins

North Petherton Seconds recovered from a poor opening twenty minutes to come back from 14-0 down to beat Winscombe Thirds 32-14. Still without captain Larry Steward they struggled to get going early on and conceded two sloppy tries. They did manage to pull themselves together after that and scored 32 unanswered points with tries by Neil Lennox, Wayne Pither, Nick Pocock, and Lloyd Steward.

Their lack of training together was clearly the major problem for the Seconds as they took the first half of the match to get going and struggled to play with much cohesion throughout. This will be exposed much more by the better sides in Somerset Three South who cannot be given 14 point head starts at the beginning of the match like Winscombe were afforded on Saturday. Read the match report here.

In the other fixtures in Somerset 3 South, two matches were postponed, whilst Morganians had the result of the day in beating last season's runners-up Wiveliscombe Seconds. Pethy's win has moved them up to fifth in the table which is currently led by Weston Thirds, who enjoyed a big win against Tor Thirds. All of the weekend's results can be seen below.

Tribute Somerset 3 South Results - Saturday 13th September 2008

Chard III P Burnham on S II
Hornets III P Castle Cary
Morganians 12 - 10 Wiveliscombe II
Tor III 24 - 54 Weston-s-Mare III
Wells III 0 - 47 Wellington III
Winscombe III 14 - 32 North Petherton II

The First team have their first home match for three weeks this coming Saturday when they face Bath side Stothert & Pitt. Kick-off is at 3:00pm. There is currently no Second team fixture becuase it is their spare weekend in the league programme, although the club is hoping to arrange a game. The Colts will be in action too this weekend when they take on Sherbourne at home on Sunday afternoon, kicking-off at 2pm.