Report by Matt Glanville
North Petherton Seconds produced a dominant performance away at Ivel, running in 10 tries as they stretched their unbeaten start to five wins in a row. Having played well in patches during their previous games, Pethy this time managed to produce a more consistent attacking performance. They also prevented the opposition from scoring for the third time this season.
Pethy made an excellent start to the match despite conceding a penalty straight from their own kick-off. Ivel chose to take a scrummage on half way but Pethy immediately established the upper hand in the scrum, turning over the ball and attacking quickly into the Ivel 22. Pethy’s forwards were straight into the game supporting the backs well, and quick ball from a ruck 10 metres out was collected by the marauding Mike Coles, who crashed over the try line for an un-converted score with only 3 minutes gone.
Having made the brighter start, North Petherton did not let up and effectively had the game won after 25 minutes. Centre Russ Williams picked up two tries, one of which was converted by Oscar Treganna, to give the visitors a 17-0 lead. The first of these came after 5 minutes when a swift attack from the re-start and several quick phases of play ended up with No 8 Simon Gingell being held up on the try-line. A good move from the resulting scrum was then powerfully finished off by Williams to the right of the posts. His second try was an even better finish, cutting in from the right outside of the Ivel 22 and dummying his way through the covering defence to score, following a quick counter attack by the Petherton backs.
Ivel then enjoyed their best spell of the match, keeping Pethy pinned inside their 22 as the visitors began make mistakes and concede penalties. However, despite some strong ball carrying by the home forwards, great defence kept them out. Pethy relieved the pressure with a kick deep into the Ivel half where good pressure from wing Jamie Adams forced a poor clearance into touch. Lock Phil Hambley collected the ball from a disrupted lineout, and good offloading and running by Simon Gingell and Matt Ranson eventually put scrum-half Treganna away to score 4 minutes before the break. Mark Sutherland-Earl converted to extend the lead to 24-0.
There was still time for a further score a minute before half-time when a poor clearance kick was collected by Jamie Adams on the right wing. From 30 metres out he rounded his opposite number and cut inside the covering defence for a great individual try. The conversion was missed but Pethy had established a 29-0 lead after 40 minutes.
North Petherton did not let up at the beginning of the second half and they quickly made ground into the home 22, and although they gave the ball away with a loose pass out of contact, a thunderous tackle by prop Pete Kingston popped the ball up in the air and into the hands of Oscar Treganna, who jinked his way over the line to score. Sutherland-Earl added the extras to extend the lead to 36-0.
Substitutions for both teams then led to a lull in the match, although the home side continued to throw the ball around to their big runners as they searched for a try. However, after 58 minutes it was Petherton again who crossed the line when full-back Rob Havill collected a pass from Russ Williams to outpace the scrambling Ivel defence to score in the right corner. The conversion was missed.
North Petherton scored 3 more tries before the final whistle. Flanker Matt Ranson was next on the score sheet after 62 minutes, collecting a neat offload from Orin Bovill on the Ivel 22 and powering through a big hole in the tiring home defence to score. On 66 minutes the visiting backs again linked well to put Rob Havill away, and he drew the last Ivel defender before popping the ball to wing Ben Williams to score. In the last minute Pethy again mounted a good attack from left to right, and their backs linked well to put replacement wing Brian Stenson in for a try in the corner. All 3 tries went un-converted to make the final score 56-0.
At the end of the match Captain Simon Gingell was pleased with the quality of some of his side’s play throughout the match and felt that this result was a step up in performance from previous weeks. Pethy’s all strawberry blond front row of Matt Glanville, Nathan Murdoch, and Pete Kingston gave Pethy the edge in the scrum, and the back row of Matt Ranson, Orin Bovill, and Simon Gingell worked well as a unit, contributing often in attack and defence. In the backs wing Jamie Adams and centre Russ Williams were always a threat with the ball as Pethy’s backs attacked from all areas of the pitch.
Tries: Mike Coles (3), Russ Williams (5, 24), Oscar Treganna (36, 42), Jamie Adams (39), Rob Havill (58), Matt Ranson (62), Ben Williams (66), Brian Stenson (80)
Cons: Oscar Treganna (6), Mark Sutherland-Earl (37, 43)
Team:
1. Matt Glanville (Rep. Adrian Tew, 45)
2. Nathan Murdoch
3. Pete Kingston
4. Mike Coles
5. Phil Hambley (Rep. Glenn Faggin, 56)
6. Matt Ranson
7. Orin Bovill
8. Simon Gingell (C)
9. Oscar Treganna
10. Mark Sutherland-Earl (Rep. Kev Rybaruk, 45)
11. Ben Williams
12. Russ Potter (Rep. Russ Williams, 75)
13. Russ Williams (Rep. Brian Stenson, 58)
14. Jamie Adams
15. Rob Havill
