No home comfort (From Gazette Series)

No home comfort

Gloucestershire League Division Two Dursley 8 Old Elizabethans 12

THE last home game of Dursley's league campaign ended in a disappointing defeat against Old Elizabethans.

Any hopes of an expansive game were quite literally rained on as a deluge fell throughout the game. Nevertheless, Dursley had a dream start, scoring within five minutes of the kick-off.

Ted Turner leapt like a migrating salmon at a lineout on the 22 and the pack drove the resulting maul over the line.

However, this was to be Dursley's only try of the game despite dominating all the scrummages and the lineouts.

With the rain falling persistently, the handling skills of both teams were being tested and the game descended into a stop-start affair.

At half-time, the sides turned around with Dursley 5-0 ahead but from the restart, Old E's kept the home side pinned in their own half, with the conditions worsening by the minute.

Dursley did manage to score a penalty to increase the lead to 8-0 but that was as good as it got.

The turning point in the game came when Old E's were in possession in the Dursley 22.

A blatant knock-on seem to have been committed but the referee allowed play to go on and the visitors scored their opening try.

With Old E's now growing in confidence due to their good fortune, they attacked with vigour and forced the home side to defend for long periods.

Three times Dursley hit clearing kicks too long and scrums were given in their own half.

From one such incident, Old E's attacked through the centre and, after a missed tackle, scampered over the line near the posts.

The conversion put Old E's 12-8 up and Dursley's late penalty kick to the corner failed to yield a match-saving score.