Gloucester One League

Bream 0 Dursley 29

DURSLEY made the long trek to Bream in search of maximum points to keep their promotion hopes alive and were not disappointed.

Dursley were given the opportunity to show their continued dominance at the scrum seconds into the match and their efforts were rewarded with a penalty on the 22 which fly half Grant Boucher slotted with ease to take the lead after two minutes 0-3.

Bream rallied and a strong break put them close to the Dursley try line and only an error in their lineout stopped the charge and good tackling by captain Jack Robson and flanker Jack Rowe kept the Bream challenge at bay.

With 12 minutes played Dursley won a scrum against the head and confident hands by the backs and a good line by centre Chris Perrett saw him run 30 yards through the Bream defence to score under the posts with Boucher adding the simple conversion 0-10.

Number eight Tim Wilcox worked hard at the breakdown and from turnover ball collected by Perrett and a strong line break by centre A J Caddick kept the pressure on.

Good defence by Bream stopped any further score until 32 minutes when a great run by Wilcox and an even better offload close to the line put the supporting Robson over to score an unconverted try 0-15.

Sterling work under pressure by winger Duncan Goodision to gather up a difficult loose ball halted Bream’s charge and strong tackling by Rowe, Robson, prop Ty Chappell and the returning Scott Udal contained play to the centre of the pitch.

In the closing minutes of the half, a break by winger Brad Winchle saw him touch down in the corner with Boucher adding the difficult conversion bringing the half time score to 0-22.

The second half started with Simon Camm replacing Udal and he immediately made an impact with a good take from the restart and hard yards supported by prop Joe Cowley.

Dursley’s all important bonus point score was started from a jinking run by Winchle and good hands along the line by forwards Jack Western and Damien Crosswell to put full back Liam Smith over in the corner and Boucher added the conversion with a favourable bounce off the upright and crossbar 0-29.

Ten minutes in Cowley was replaced by Josh Bailey and Smith by Olli Halford. Bream continued to pressure near the Dursley line and only strong defence kept out a certain score.

Midway through the half Winchle looked set to score but was bundled into touch ten metres out and Dursley chose this time to bring Cowley back on for Chappell.

The Dursley forwards were working well and rumbled the ball half the length of the pitch intelligently shepherded by scrum half Joe McGough.

At 32 minutes, Chappell returned for Crosswell. Dursley’s back line continued to spread the ball wide but their challenge was halted by the touchline and they were unable to increase the score with the match ending 0-29.

This result keeps Dursley in third place in the league on equal points with second place Gloucester Old Boys.

Dursley’s next game is at home on Saturday week (March 4) against Bredon Star and your support would be greatly appreciated.