Dursley crush sad Abingdon (From Gazette Series)

Dursley crush sad Abingdon

Powergen Junior Vase Dursley 37 Abingdon 0

DOMINANT Dursley ran in seven tries as they steamrollered Abingdon in their Powergen Vase tie at Stinchcombe.

The home side took the lead as early as the second minute and dictated the game against a side that play one level above them.

Indeed, had it not been for some unfortunate handling errors and some wayward goal kicking from Luke Small the game might have developed into a total annihilation.

Brad Winchle opened the floodgates when he picked up a loose ball on the blind side of a ruck on halfway, raced up the wing, cut inside the full back and touched down. Small missed the conversion but his side went further ahead in the eighth minute.

A good Dursley kick put the visitors in trouble with a lineout five metres from their own line and, when they failed to catch cleanly, hooker Mark Stamp pounced on the loose ball for a simple but unconverted try.

Abingdon offered little in the opening stages and struggled to make their weight advantage in the pack tell.

The third Dursley try arrived on 25 minutes when the ball was moved along the back line from a scrum on the left for full back Trevor Scott to burst through the visitors' defence and score under the posts.

However, Small's wretched kicking form continued as he again put his effort wide.

As half-time approached Abingdon enjoyed their first spell of sustained pressure but the home side kept them out and extended their lead two minutes before the break.

Fly-half Simon Lane broke away to make it 20-0 although Small's fourth miss of the afternoon meant that the visitors only needed three converted tries to recover despite the hosts scoring four times.

As it was, Dursley dominated the second half even more than the first.

They looked set to score at will but sloppy handling repeatedly cost them with second row Matt Sprague blowing the best chance after good work by Small and Simon Cole.

The home side were eventually rewarded for their persistence seven minutes from time when the forwards caught and set from a lineout and replacement hooker Ian Brown went over in the corner after a good drive.

Small then kicked his most difficult conversion attempt of the day to make it 27-0.

With time almost up Dursley scored their sixth try as Small got the score his running deserved with a terrific break from his own half, although he could not convert.

The Abingdon restart in injury time was poor and the hosts immediately returned it for a seventh score, Winchle outpacing the defence and neatly stepping between two defenders who comically ran into each other like two drunks fighting in the street.

Small again missed the extras but Dursley finished as thoroughly deserved winners.

Dursley: D Noble, M Stamp (I Brown 50), G Allen, M Sprague, G Dakin, G Woodward (T Niblett 40), A Scott (N Hull 70), M Perry, E Bircher, S Lane, S Cole, A Jones, L Small, B Winchle, T Scott. Tries: Winchle (2), Stamp, T Scott, Lane, Brown, Small. Conversion: Small.