Report by Matt Glanville
North Petherton Seconds won a crucial top of the table encounter to inflict only a second defeat of the season on Cheddar Valley and remain top of Somerset Two South. In wet and muddy conditions at Beggars Brook, Pethy Captain Simon Gingell asked his players to go to war before the match, and an 80 minute war of attrition ensued as Cheddar sought to dominate through their large forwards and kicking game. However, it was the Pethy pack that eventually edged a ferocious forward battle, laying the platform for a narrow but deserved win.
Kicking off up the slope Pethy were immediately pressed back into their own half, soaking up some sustained pressure outside their 22 as the visitors examined the home defensive line. Pethy held firm and began to work their way into the opposition half through their own forwards, before attempting to put some width on the ball. As soon as they did a handling error just outside of the Cheddar 22 allowed the visiting 12 to pick up the loose ball, and he demonstrated great pace to run in from 70 metres out and score in the right corner on 13 minutes. The conversion was missed but Cheddar led 5-0.
The next 20 minutes of the match were fought largely between the 22’s as both sides toiled away in the mud for little reward. Cheddar had the better of the territory but were continually frustrated by the referee’s whistle as some great tackling by Petherton’s backline and aggressive work at the breakdown forced Cheddar into conceding turnovers and penalties.
Towards the end of the half Pethy began to wear down the opposition as they kept it tight and strung together many phases of play. They failed to make any clear cut opportunities though and with 5 minutes left of the half Cheddar won a turnover of their own on their 22 before some more aggressive defence from Pethy forced a knock-on. From the resulting scrum Pethy attacked down the right wing where a kick through by Winger Ben Williams was touched down brilliantly just inside the dead ball line by Scrum-Half Oscar Treganna. The conversion was missed to leave the scores level at 5-5 at the break.
Playing down the slope Pethy made a flying start to the second half, immediately making inroads into the Cheddar 22 and beginning to play some more expansive rugby. On 42 minutes a try scoring chance went begging as Williams knocked on with the try-line in sight, but he made amends 2 minutes later with an excellent finish in the right corner, diving under a couple of attempted tackles to score. The conversion was missed but Pethy now led 10-5.
Cheddar then enjoyed their best spell of the match, camping themselves inside the home 22 as Pethy conceded a couple of penalties of their own. Kicking to the corner Cheddar attempted to maul their way over but were held up on the try-line. Pethy struggled to clear the ball very far and Cheddar continued to use their driving maul from several lineout’s with little success, as they were held up every time by the Petherton pack.
Pethy began to dominate the scrum and from a turnover inside their own 22 they counter-attacked swiftly through the backs and were only just prevented from scoring a great try by some illegal Cheddar handling in a ruck 5 metres out. Pethy elected to take a scrum from the resulting penalty to the right of the posts, and they drove the visiting pack back over their own try-line where No.8 Simon Gingell touched the ball down for the decisive score. Fly-Half Dan Pearce converted to extend Petherton’s lead to 17-5 after 60 minutes.
Pethy dominated the last 20 minutes as they searched for a bonus point score, but a combination of handling errors and good defence by the visitors kept them out. Cheddar had their Fly-Half binned on 72 minutes for intentionally knocking on to prevent a try-scoring opportunity, but Pethy were unable to capitalise on their numerical advantage.
This was an intelligent performance by Pethy in the conditions as they put last week’s disappointing showing at Tor behind them. Where last week they were guilty of failing to adapt to the conditions and the decisions of the referee, this week their discipline and focus was excellent. Every member of the Pethy pack grafted hard whilst Petherton’s backline, so used to demonstrating their attacking qualities this season, formed a wall of aggressive defence that never looked like being breached after Cheddar’s early score.
For Pethy, Captain Simon Gingell led by example with a typically belligerent performance, relishing the forward contest throughout, whilst Scrum-Half Oscar Treganna harassed the opposition with his pace around the fringes and excellent tackling. Every player contributed as the team played with the intensity that has now seen them beat every side in the league. The challenge for them over the remaining half of the season will be to repeat that achievement with Chard Seconds only 2 points behind Pethy in second place.
Tries: Oscar Treganna (35), Ben Williams (44), Simon Gingell (60)
Con: Dan Pearce (61)
Team:
1. Sheldon Jones
2. Nathan Murdoch
3. Matt Glanville (Rep. Pete Kingston, 40)
4. Ty Harris
5. Ben Stewart (Rep. Ben Sellick, 70)
6. Phil Hambley
7. Chris Griffiths (Rep. Toby Harris, 40)
8. Simon Gingell (C)
9. Oscar Treganna
10. Dan Pearce
11. Dan Winn
12. Ash Palmer
13. Russ Potter
14. Ben Williams
15. Rob Havill
Rep Unused: Shaun Cook
