16th April 2011 - Tribute Somerset 2 South:

Somerton 8 v 17 North Petherton

Report by Ben Williams

On the final day of the season the weather was set fair for an entertaining match between two sides who only had pride to play for. Petherton were missing influential captain and talisman Ben Williams due to a foot injury, which meant he missed his final game in charge. However young utility forward Adrian Tew gamely led the side in Williams absence.

Petherton started off the scoring almost immediately through new winger/full back Sam Cook, who broke down the right flank to score in the corner. The conversion was missed. Somerton then started to get into their stride and scored three points from a penalty from in front of the posts. The game was then going now where fast for 10 minutes until promising flanker/second row Tyrone Harris scored following a sustained period of pressure by Pethertons dominate forwards who were bossing the scrum and the break down. Fly half Dan Pearce slotted over the conversion to make the score 12-3. Somerton then hit back with a deserved score just before the break, which meant Petherton only had a slender 12-8 score line to defend playing up the slope and into a strong breeze in the second half.

The second period was a scrappy affair with both sides making basic handling errors and conceding needless penalties, which led to another stalemate. This was until veteran prop Robert Kearle came onto the field and what must have seemed a surreal moment for him saw Somerton's defence open up and he crashed over the line from 10 metres out. The conversion was missed and the match finished 17-8 to Petherton.

Skipper Ben Williams would like to thank all the players that put their efforts into a successful season, which hopefully will be a platform for a promotion push next season.

Team: Burge (Kearle), Murdoch, Duheaume, Harris, Coles, Winn (Stewart), Taylor, Tew, Rybaruk, Pearce, Duddridge, Steward, Palmer, Cook, Potter.