Report by Nick Prince
Petherton always knew that this game would be a test to see how much improvement had been made, unfortunately Bideford were well prepared and drilled. The first half saw Petherton relying heavily on their strong defence as the Bideford backs strung together attack after attack with a swift and very accurate back line. Bideford opened the scoring after 15 minutes with a penalty conceded by Petherton from a collapsed scrum (3 - 0).
Petherton found it hard to get out of their own half as the Bideford backs made use of plenty of possession with accurate passing and the use of a very quick and agile winger who appeared all over the field. Eventually they were able to breech the defence to score a well worked try. The conversion attempt was missed (8 - 0).
The start of the second half saw Petherton start to string some phases together, which eventually led to Arron Gibbs breaking through only to be held up over the try-line. The half continued with a lot of play confined to the middle of the park with both defences proving too strong for each other.
The final quarter quarter of the game saw Petherton start to show some domination in the forwards but they were still lacking the accuracy in the backs. Eventually the forwards were able to go over in the corner with James Cox scoring the much needed try. The conversion attempt by Harry Roberts was missed (8 - 5).
Petherton rallied right to the end, and could have come away with the points after a break by Arron Gibbs left James Carter with a 3 on 1, but unfortunately the pass was knocked on and in truth was a true reflection of the game as Petherton were definitely rusty after the Christmas break. Hopefully the lads will return to winning ways next week.
We would like to thank the Bideford committee for making us most welcome and showing great hospitality throughout our visit.
Next week the 1st XV are home to Bude, the 2nd XV are away to Crewkerne and the Colts are home to Minehead
