Vale show fighting spirit at local rivals
Avonvale travelled the few miles from Bathford to Lansdown to take on local rivals and second in Counties 1 Southern South Walcot.
The league positions showed in the early exchanges, with Walcot dominating the scrums for the first 20 minutes and their silky backs moving the ball well.
Walcot scored two tries to lead 14-0 but Vale showed their fighting spirit and scored a try at the end of the first half when second row Charlie Fallows crashed over.
In the second half, it was nip and tuck but Walcot’s experience at the higher level showed as they scored two more tries.
Vale could not be faulted for their grit and determination and they made a real game of it, but just could not cross the whitewash.
Walcot ran out 26-5 victors but certainly knew they had been in a game. Vale have a week off next week before another daunting game awaits them when league leaders Wimbourne visit the Crown Field.
Coach Dave George said: “We gave a good account of ourselves today and we are certainly looking forward to the Wimborne game where we may just cause a shock or two.”
■ AVON picked up another welldeserved try bonus win, 27-7 at Wells in Counties 2 Somerset. Whilst the result was deeply satisfying at their old Somerset rivals’ difficult ground, the performance itself was perhaps a little lacklustre.
The first half playing up the slope was particularly frustrating as a mixture of handling errors and some shoddy tackling allowed Wells to stay in contention despite the feeling that Avon could cut loose at any time with a little more concentration.
Some unrelenting forward drives early on laid a solid foundation, before a powerful rolling maul saw Xander Davis force his way over for their opening try with Jonny Batchelor adding the extras. Instead of building on this platform, Avon seemed somewhat lethargic and Wells took advantage of a missed tackle in midfield to level the scores with a converted try.
Avon restored their lead as Zak Harwood sold an exquisite dummy on halfway to burst upfield before timing a perfect pass inside to the supporting Batchelor who sprinted clear to touch down under the posts and slot the straightforward conversion.
Things all became a little frantic as errors from both sides prevented any real fluency. One crunching tackle from Russ Hindmarch almost led to another score out wide and, as half time approached, Avon were camped on Wells try line but were repelled by committed defence.
A hard-hitting team talk from coach Kai Harwood initially had little impact as Avon resumed in a similar vein, hanging off tackles and conceding unnecessary penalties. Then Avon started to respond positively with Dan Griffin and Ian Burnell driving forward to set up a penalty which Batchelor gratefully accepted.
Another midfield burst from Harwood again fed Batchelor out wide before the covering defence snuffed out the opportunity.
Already missing some regular backs through injury and unavailability, Avon suffered further disruption as an excellent performance by Tai Harwood was marred as he was helped off with a dislocated shoulder. With veterans Ben Crane and Ben Hurd coming on and youngster Oscar Cormack making an impressive debut off the bench, Avon finally started to impose more discipline and continuity.
A flowing three-quarter move saw the ball moved wide for man of the match Batchelor to cruise in for his second try with the attempted conversion hitting the post.
Sensing the chance of the bonus point, some clever tactical kicking down the slope forced Wells deep inside their own 22 where they conceded a penalty. The resulting short range lineout was cleanly won by Rhys van den Handel at the front to set up a monstrous forward drive with Davis again the beneficiary for his sixth try of the season to clinch the bonus point victory.
ELSEWHERE, Keynsham returned to action after having last week off with a 37-24 win at home to Gordano in Regional 2 Severn. It continues Keynsham’s winning streak over Gordano as they sixth in the table. Combe Down avenged their 32-10 defeat at Royal Wootton Bassett 2nd in 2019, narrowly winning 28-24 to move up to third in Counties 1 Southern South.
Oldfield Old Boys are up to fourth in Counties 2 Somerset following their 40-17 win at home to
Minehead Barbarians, reversing the 38-18 scoreline suffered in February. The Second Side played out a 19-19 draw at local rivals Stothert & Pitt in Counties 3 Somerset North. Old Sulians remain 11 points off unbeaten leaders Chew Valley 2nd in second after their 31-12 victory at home to Bristol Harlequins.
Unbeaten Counties 2 Dorset & Wilts Central leaders Corsham rumbled on to seven wins from seven with a 59-15 success at Salisbury 2nd. Bradford on Avon’s poor run against Warminster continued with a 46-7 defeat at the second place side.
Corsham 2nd put their offer in for highest score of the season with an outstanding 123-8 mauling of hosts Warminster 2nd in Counties 3 Dorset & Wilts Central to go eight points clear at the top. Their cause was helped by second place Combe Down 2nd narrowly losing 22-17 at home to Sherborne 2nd - a much closer scoreline than the 38-3 defeat Combe suffered in September.
Bath Saracens also needed a fair bit of ink for their score-book as they thrashed visiting Melksham 2nd 88-10 to move above the now bottom side. Colerne enjoyed a 40-36 win at home to Cricklade in Counties 3 Dorset & Wilts North to continue their recent winning run over Cricklade.
In the Women’s Divisions, Bath slipped to their first defeat of the campaign at nearest rivals Richmond. Patricia Brown scored a try and Katie Derrick slotted a penalty in the first half as they sat 14-8 down at the break. Richmond scored four unconverted tries in the second half to win 34-8 and move to within five points of leaders Bath, with a game in hand.
The Second Side were narrowly beaten by NC1 South West (East) leaders Drybrook. Caitlin Trevithick and Kathryn Southwell dotted down unconverted for Bath who lost 15-10 for a second defeat in three games.