Petherton win local derby

08/04/06 - Somerset One: Burnham-on-Sea 22 v 31 North Petherton

Report from the Bridgwater Mercury - By Jim Keay (sport@bridgwatermercury.co.uk)

North Petherton showed their spirit at Burnham on Saturday by snatching victory in stoppage time, despite having played most of the match a man short.

Veteran fly-half Mark Sutherland-Earl was sent off for stamping after 20 minutes, the first red card of his career. They then lost skipper and scrum-half Wayne Carter with a knee injury mid-way through the second half.

It was during the time added on for Carter's lengthy treatment that Petherton, 22-21 down after 80 minutes, stole the match. Two minutes into the extra period, impressive teenage full-back Tom Williams scored a brilliant individual try from 25 metres, which gave them a four point lead. Then, good rucking by the forwards ended with No.8 James Lees going over in the corner for his second try of the game to seal victory.

Burnham, who fielded a makeshift, but effective back row, with three quarter Tim Piper and hooker Nick McKen on the flanks, paid the penalty for failing to make proper use of the strong, cold wind that was in their favour during the second half. They allowed Petherton to bottle them up in their own 22, rather than kicking long so that they could play in the opposition half. The visitors had the superior pack and that, in the end, was decisive.

Petherton went ahead after only five minutes when Lees broke from the back of a scrum and Somerset Under-20 flankers Miles McNeillie and Ross Finlayson combined well for Finlayson to touch down. Tom Williams converted.

Only an interception by Burnham wing George Wilcox from a pass by Petherton centre Russ Potter prevented a second early score. Then Sutherland-Earl was shown a straight red after a slight brawl in the Burnham 22.

Despite the handicap, the visitors continued to have the better of the game downwind. They were lucky to have their second try awarded after 31 minutes when Lees, on the blind-side of the referee, appeared to drop the ball as he was touching it down. Williams again converted for 14-0.

With the interval approaching, Burnham, who had only threatened through individuals, suddenly scored two tries in as many minutes. After 37 the deceptively slight Wilcox showed tremendous strength and balance to beat three tackles and go over in the corner. Steve Cox, Burnham's Second Team fly-half, converted well into the wind. Then, after Burnham had taken a quick line-out in the Petherton 22, Piper side-stepped and swerved his way through, although this time Cox could not convert.

Only 14-12 down against the wind at the interval and facing 14 men, Burnham must have fancied their chances of victory. Three minutes after the restart they stole the ball at a Petherton scrum for centre Dave Welland to take advantage of the visitor's lack of numbers in the backs to score under the posts. Cox converted for a 19-14 lead.

However, Petherton are a cussed lot, and within four minutes centre Lloyd Williams, who had now switched to fly-half, waltzed over in similar style to Piper's. Tom Williams conversion put his side two points ahead.

Two minutes after that, they were behind again, as Cox landed a penalty for offside, making it 22-21 to Burnham. That was how it stayed until stoppage time, although Cox failed with another penalty attempt after 69 minutes and there were other near misses at both ends.

This was Petherton's final league match of a satisfactory season and, with several very promising young players, their prospects look good. Notable features of their performance were the tremendous defensive display of centre Russ Potter and some abrasive runs by second-row Steve Doyle. Burnham have some players of great flair, but they need them all to be available more regularly, and are still slightly lacking in the front five.

Teams: Burnham - 15.Pike, 14.Radford, 13.D.Welland, 12.Lewis, 11.Wilcox, 10.Cox, 9.Whitfield, 1.Burnell, 2.Gladwyn, 3.Popham, 4.Harding (rep Fear), 5.House, 6.McKen, 7.Piper, 8.Fereday.

North Petherton - 15.T.Williams, 14.B.Williams, 13.Potter, 12.L.Williams, 11.Archer, 10.Sutherland-Earl, 9.Carter (rep Ryburuk), 1.M.Burge, 2.Stone, 3.Glanville, 4.Doyle, 5.Walford, 6.Finlayson, 7.McNeillie (rep C.Burge), 8.Lees. Unused: Mantyk