Report by Matt Glanville
North Petherton Seconds maintained their winning run with the narrowest of victories away at third placed Crewkerne. A visibly fired up home side were determined to end Pethy’s winning streak and haul themselves back into promotion contention, but they were thwarted by a late penalty from Petherton fly-half Dan Pearce, who held his nerve to slot over a difficult kick with 5 minutes remaining.
North Petherton made an excellent and awful start to match in the space of the opening minute. Pethy kicked off and winger Scott Briffett caught the ball well under pressure just inside the Crewkerne 10 metre line. Some quick rucking by the forwards saw the ball shipped wide to the right as Pethy made immediate inroads into the Crewkerne half. However, a hand in a ruck near the home 22 saw the ball shoot out to the left where Crewkerne’s grateful winger was able scoop the ball up and show great pace to run the length of the pitch and score in the left corner. Crewkerne’s scrum-half then made an excellent conversion to make it 7-0 to the home side.
Buoyed by such a great start the home side set about the visitors with aggression and intensity, particularly up front where the excellent Crewkerne pack gave Pethy’s scrum a severe examination. The visitors struggled to gain much territory in the opening 20 minutes and Crewkerne were happy to kick the ball deep and force Pethy back inside their own 22. Despite this opening onslaught Pethy at least showed one of the main reasons why they have remained unbeaten so far this season, namely their defence, which was resolute again as they shut out Crewkerne for the rest of the match.
Good tackling by Scrum-Half Ben Tracey prevented a score from a lineout 10 meters from the Petherton try-line, and good covering behind by Scott Briffett also prevented a try in the right corner following a neat chip over by the top by the home fly-half. Pethy also held out from 2 five meter scrums for the home side to eventually get themselves out of trouble and back into the Crewkerne half.
After 25 minutes Pethy finally managed to produce some incisive play as right winger Brian Stenson was just denied 2 try scoring opportunities by some determined last ditch defending, following some excellent handling under pressure from Petherton’s backline. A try eventually came for the visitors after 30 minutes when Pethy’s backs again worked a good move from a scrum on the right of the Crewkerne 22. With all involved as the ball was moved across the pitch, full-back Ben Williams punched through a hole in the covering defence and passed out to winger Briffett, who finished well under pressure to get Pethy back into the match. A difficult conversion from the touchline was missed by Pearce to make the score 5-7 at half-time.
The second half continued to be an intense struggle for superiority, but as the match wore on Pethy began to dominate possession without being able to find enough precision in their play to make the breakthrough. Pethy’s tireless back row of Mike Taylor, Phil Hambley and Simon Gingell began to affect many turnovers at the breakdown and Pethy counter attacked well through Pearce and Centres Dave Hallaran and Chris Griffiths. Replacement prop Pete Kingston also brought some stability to the scrum as Pethy toiled away looking for an opening.
The ruck area saw both sides concede penalties throughout the half as the majority of the play remained between the 22’s. However, good running down the left wing by Briffett and great support play by Kingston and Hambley took Pethy close to the line, and following a scrappy lineout Pethy again worked the ball to the right wing where the unfortunate Stenson was just unable to scoop a pass up off his bootlaces with the try-line at his mercy.
The match entered the last 10 minutes with Crewkerne continuing to disrupt the play and forcing the visitors back into their own half every time they threatened a crucial score. Pethy kept grinding away and forced a penalty 30 meters out to right of the posts with 8 minutes remaining. Pearce sent this attempt narrowly wide and it looked as if Pethy might finally be about to taste defeat for the first time this season. However, the team did not panic and kept plugging away, forcing a further penalty from a similar distance to the left of the posts with 5 minutes left. This time Pearce connected sweetly with the ball, and it sailed through the posts to give Pethy the lead for the first time.
Crewkerne threw everything at the visitors for the remaining 5 minutes, but they held on to the ball from the kick-off and kept possession from a couple of scrums and lineouts to see out the remaining time and keep their unbeaten record intact. This was one of the Second Team’s toughest games of the season, and whilst they would have preferred it not to have been so tight, Pethy would have taken any sort of win from this fixture beforehand. Crewkerne away is always a tough match and the hosts did not disappoint with an aggressive and spirited performance. However, Pethy showed great determination to grind out the win and remain top of Somerset Two.
Tries: Scott Briffett (30)
Pens: Dan Pearce (75)
Team:
1. Sheldon Jones
2. Nathan Murdoch (Rep. Lee Briffett, 75)
3. Matt Glanville (Rep. Pete Kingston, 50)
4. Ben Stewart
5. Adrian Tew
6. Phil Hambley
7. Mike Taylor
8. Simon Gingell (C)
9. Ben Tracey
10. Dan Pearce
11. Scott Briffett (Rep. Steve Potter, 60)
12. Dave Hallaran
13. Chris Griffiths
14. Brian Stenson
15. Ben Williams
