Old Patesians 22 Thornbury 24

THE scratchiest of scratch Thornbury teams returned from Cheltenham with a fine win in the bag from their first victory at Old Patesians in twelve visits.

With backs playing in the forwards and Tom Luke forced to come out of retirement to play out of position at scrum half Thorns looked likely to struggle but the team dug in and played well to score four tries against a strong Old Pats side.

Thornbury played up-hill in the first half. Awarded a scrum after a knock-on by the home side deep in Thorns’ “22” quick ball was moved to Sam Poustie who drew his man and a great pass put Alfie Richardson into space. He raced up to half way, beat three men and surged into the Old Pats ‘22’ then as the cover came across fed Rich Bennett in support and he crashed over in the corner for a magnificent try.

Tom Luke converted with a terrific kick from the touchline to put Thorns 7-0 up within 90 seconds.

Old Pats hit back with a try after persistent pressure. With a half hour gone Thornbury attacked again and a pin-point crosskick was flipped back by Bennett for Dai Matthews to score in the corner. The conversion missed but Thorns led 12-5.

Shortly afterwards Old Pats scored their second try then in last play of the first half scored again to lead 15-12 at the break.

Within three minutes of the restart Thorns were back ahead when Sam Evans was driven over following a driving lineout.

Light was now becoming an issue and after a missed tackle in midfield the home left wing disappeared into the gloom to score another try. The conversion put Old Pats 22-17 ahead.

Thornbury surged back downfield and looked to regain the lead but Old Pats’ scrambled defence just kept their line intact. As the hour passed Tim Stephens chipped over the defence, gathered his kick and scored a fourth try. His conversion regained the lead for Thorns.

Light was non-existent. The only illumination was from the houses adjoining the pitch and from Dai Matthews’ gum shield. Five minutes later the referee, conscious that it was now becoming dangerous, blew for the end of the game fifteen minutes early.

It was a thoroughly deserved win against a good standard of opposition. Thornbury’s backs were confident and highly-skilled with the three tries by the backs all creative and memorable. There were good performances throughout the side. Alfie Richardson and Rich Bennett were a threat whenever they had possession whilst the front row played well against a big pack. Special mention for young Will Kane who in his first start had a fine game in the second row and for Jack Civill-Williams who tackled well in the unfamiliar position of the back row.

Thornbury’s next match is the opening league fixture at Bideford next weekend.

Thornbury scorers: tries –Bennett, Matthews, Evans and Stephens; conversions –Luke and Stephens