Report by Russell Williams
Table topping North Petherton travelled to Kingsbridge to face a team who sat one place from the bottom of the league. Pethy had not won in either of their two previous visits and set out to put right the errors which had seen them put to the sword in 2010 where they trailed by 40 points at half time. The start of the match was delayed by 30 minutes due to the referee having a breakdown on his way to the ground, but Petherton managed to relax and take the delay in their stride during the build up to a 3:30 kick off.
With a team fundamentally the same as the previous week, Petherton started off the stronger of the two teams, retaining the ball and making slow but steady inroads into the Kingsbridge half through some steady play by the Petherton forwards. The Kingsbridge defence proved to be resolute all afternoon, never giving Pethy much time on the ball, contesting the breakdown ferociously and rushing the oncoming flow of the Pethy backs. The opening score of the match came through the reliable boot of Pethy's number 15 Harry Roberts after Pethy were awarded a penalty in front of the posts on 8 minutes thanks to an overzealous Kingsbridge back row who went off his feet and interfered with the ball at a Pethy ruck (0-3).
The following 15 minutes or so saw numerous flows of Petherton attack repelled by the Kingsbridge defence who, despite appearing to have both centres offside for most of the match, predominantly countered when in possession by using the wind to their advantage, chipping over the top of the Pethy back line to pin the visitors back inside their own 22. As in previous weeks, Pethy played with a strong defence when they found themselves under pressure inside their own half, which generally came about by conceding too many penalties at the breakdown.
On 22 minutes, a passage of strong attacking play by the Pethy forwards, which was spearheaded all afternoon by young number 8 Arron Gibbs, saw Pethy make a somewhat rare first half venture into the opposition 22. From the back of a ruck the ball was delivered swiftly and accurately by scrum half Lloyd Williams to Russ Williams out wide who drew his man to put Sam Butler into space on the wing to run in the opening try of the match. Roberts missed the conversion attempt from out wide (0-8).
From the restart Pethy managed to retain possession and again the forwards made strong ground into the Kingsbridge half. An attempted attack from the Pethy Backs was defended strongly by the Kingsbridge backs however, in front of the post the opposition 10 was adjudged to have been playing the ball on the ground and Pethy were awarded their second penalty which Roberts slotted with ease to increase the lead to 0-11.
The remainder of the first half saw some scrappy passages of play and numerous penalties being conceded by both teams around the middle of the park and neither team were able to stamp their authority on the match. When Kingsbridge ventured into the Pethy half strong defensive lineout work by Butler and Cox often resulted in the ball being won back allowing Pethy to clear their lines. Petherton dominated the first half line outs and had the upper hand over the home side in the scrum often turning the ball over with their superior power showing. Half time came about after a slow final 15 minutes to leave the match tightly balanced at 0-11.
The half time break gave Pethy a chance to regroup and work out where the weaknesses were in the home sides play. Knowing that the first 10 minutes of the second half were crucial, Pethy came out playing up the hill but with the wind. The first 20 minutes of the half was a relatively tight dual but Pethy generally had the edge over Kingsbridge despite the numerous soft penalties being awarded against them which often failed to make sense to either the travelling players or supporters.
On 60 minutes Butler was sent to the sin bin for allegedly playing the ball from an offside position. This left Pethy under the cosh as the referee began to find favour with the home side. When Kingsbridge managed to work their way towards the Pethy 22 a couple of misplaced defensive kicks from Pethy saw the ball kicked dead and scrums awarded back inside Pethy's 22. This gave Kingsbridge the chance to maintain pressure on the Pethy defence. Kingsbridge missed a couple of penalties from in front of the posts which was mainly the result of the strong swirling wind that was blowing across the top of the hill, but on 62 minutes and with Pethy still down to 14 men the home side centre managed to ghost his way through the covering defence to score ten metres to the side of the posts. The try was converted and all of a sudden Pethy were left facing the prospect of a close finish to the match (7-11).
Pethy regrouped and, despite being a man short, managed to work their way into the home side half thanks largely to numerous powerful runs from Gibbs and good support play from the Pethy forwards. At one time Kyle Prescott looked to have been put through to score after making a skirting run with the odd dummy pass to get within 10 metres of the home side line only to run out of steam. From the following passage of play, Pethy were awarded another penalty in front of the posts after yet another Kingsbridge player was adjudged to have been playing the ball off his feet. Roberts slotted the kick to increase the lead to 7-14.
On 65 minutes Russ Williams was replaced by Ash Palmer in the middle of the park, Miles McNeillie replaced injured Craig Goodwin and big daddy Mike Coles replaced Simon Ranson at prop on 73 minutes. The final minutes of the match were somewhat scrappy with both teams attempting to run the ball back at each other. It was Pethy however who had the upper hand and after more controlled play the visitors managed to rush the home side back line causing numerous knock-ons. Pethy eventually secured a scrum on the home side's 5 metre line. With Mike Coles fresh and gnarly in the Pethy scrum Pethy got the shunt on and drove the ball over the Kingsbridge line for Arron Gibbs to finish off a fine individual performance with Pethy's final try of the match on 80 minutes. Roberts made the conversion to the tune of the final whistle and Pethy had managed to see out what had been a difficult encounter with a 21 points to 7 win.
Petherton knew that the encounter with Kingsbridge was never going to be an easy affair despite their polarised positions within the league table. Kingsbridge were dogged in defence and never allowed Pethy to play the flowing rugby that they had hope for. Manupenu was given little time to get the back line away but all credit must go to the Pethy forwards for a comprehensive and controlled display of rugby and to the Pethy back line for another display of solid defensive rugby. Petherton remain top of the table on points difference and will go into next weekend's Somerset Cup match against Weston Hornets, who themselves sit on top of the Western Counties North table, with the confidence and knowledge that they are able to adapt to both conditions, which were not ideal for rugby, and a different style of play when required.
Man of the Match: Arron Gibbs.
Team:
1. Simon Ranson (Coles 73)
2. Sam Williams
3. Kyle Prescott
4. James Cox
5. Sam Butler
6. Matt Brown
7. Matt Ranson
8. Arron Gibbs
9. Lloyd Williams
10. Jervis Manupenu
11. Jamie Adams
12. Russell Williams (Palmer 65)
13. James Carter
14. Craig Goodwin (McNeillie 73)
15. Harry Roberts
Replacements
16. Mike Coles
17. Miles McNeillie
18. Ashley Palmer
Tries: Sam Butler, Arron Gibbs
Cons: Harry Roberts (1)
Pens: Harry Roberts (3)
