Thornbury 33 Clevedon 12

TWO tries in four early second-half minutes eased Thornbury away from tenacious opponents to secure a maximum points victory in difficult conditions. And the win sees Thornbury move up to third in the table.

The Thornbury side that took the field had a distinctly unfamiliar look with new players introduced and others playing out of position as the coaches dealt with an increasing injury list.

Thornbury kicked off downhill into the face of driving rain. Clevedon immediately took play back into the Thornbury half and looked the better side in the early exchanges but two Tom Luke penalties eased Thorns to a 6-0 lead. Then as the first quarter drew to a close Clevedon scored and converted a well-worked try to go ahead.

Thorns visibly increased the intensity and tempo of their play and the scrum was well on-top. Luke restored Thornbury’s lead with a fine penalty from wide out.

Thornbury were irresistible in the last ten minutes of the half. Rob Higgitt, Colm O’Loughlin and Liam Pemberton were close to scoring before Sam Higgins kicked ahead in the Clevedon 22, Luke gathered the ball and when tackled flipped it to the supporting Bertie Ridley-Thomas who showed great strength and determination to crash through three tacklers and score his first try for the club. Luke converted and on the stroke of half time Thorns led 16-7.

That will please the management including assistant coach Olly Kohn who has worked hard with the forwards this season

And 51 seconds into the second half, Thorns went further ahead when Alfie Richardson swerved outside his opposing wing and raced in for a superb try. The conversion narrowly missed.

Thornbury tails were up and four minutes later Thorns destroyed a Clevedon scrum on the visitors’ 22, took the ball against the head and quick passing gave Sam Higgins the chance to score out wide. The conversion also went wide but Thorns were 26-7 ahead.

Clevedon hit back with a second try before replacement Mike Gaston cut inside and outside two defenders to score the bonus point try by the posts. Luke converted to put the game out of Clevedon’s reach.

Thornbury pressed for a further score but good defence from Clevedon kept them out and Thorns won 33-12.

The game was won up front and the new players deserve great credit for coming into the side and performing well, particularly Dan Kerr out of position at lock. Bertie Ridley-Thomas and “Chops” O’Loughlin had fine games in the tight and loose whilst Jack Hussey was outstanding. In the backs there were good performances in each position.

Wayne Underwood ran well while the centres were physical and creative, the back three deadly with Alfie Richardson and Sam Higgins taking their scoring chances well.

Match sponsors Mensis Accountants awarded Bob Adams man of the match for a fine all-round game. There are harder games to come for Thornbury, and the visit to bottom club Coney Hill in two weeks’ time is undoubtedly going to be considerably harder than the league table would suggest.

Thornbury scorers: tries – Bertie Ridley-Thomas, Alfie Richardson, Sam Higgins, Mike Gaston; conversions – Tom Luke (2); penalties – Tom Luke (3)