Tribute South West One West

Thornbury 14 Newent 17

THORNBURY were left to rue a number of missed scoring opportunities in a dominant first half and let Newent control the second for a narrow win.

In what was Newent’s first victory at Thornbury, the visitor’s forwards got on top in tight and loose after the break and were more clinical converting every scoring opportunity into points.

Bob Adams kicked two early penalties as Thornbury were well on top from the start.

The forwards were surging towards the Newent line in wave after wave of powerful drives but mistakes were too frequent. James Wood was unable to ground the ball with a number of Newent defenders under him as he barged his way over.

Jake Wood had a good run down the right wing but as the cover came across deep in the Newent ‘22’ there was insufficient support to capitalise and Newent cleared.

Instead of Thornbury scoring it was Newent who got the scoreboard moving. On their first excursion into Thornbury territory their centres exploited a weak tackle and combined for an unconverted try.

Shortly afterwards, Jack Hussey made a fine break from halfway and passed inside to Harry Glew who was hauled down by the posts. Then Thorns attacked but the referee didn’t allow advantage and awarded Thornbury a penalty, but the kick went wide.

Thornbury then scored a glorious try. Direct from a scrum on halfway Rob Higgitt ran straight and created space for Jake Wood to sprint through. He had too much pace for the defence, stepped the cover and scored close to the posts. The conversion missed but Thornbury were 11-5 ahead.

Thornbury continued to attack and stretch Newent but the visitors defence was committed and tight and with Thorns making mistakes there was no further score. Thornbury led 11-5 at half time. They should have been out of sight.

Newent were faster out of the blocks for the second half and played with more control and energy. Thornbury had to defend and had to work hard to keep the visitors out. The Newent scrum was well on top then as the third quarter drew to a close tired tackling allowed Newent in for a converted try which put them 12-11 ahead.

The lead lasted five minutes as Adams kicked his third penalty to put Thornbury 14-12 up, but with ten minutes remaining, Newent’s big centre scored direct from a scrum to regain the lead at 17-14. When the referee blew for the end of the match there were cheers of joy from the Newent players.

Thornbury earned a losing bonus point but it should have been more, as Thornbury should have had the game won by half time but they didn’t play well enough.

James Wood and Jack Hussey had fine games in attack and defence but Thorns lived on scraps in the second half.

The backline, which had looked exciting when they had possession, saw the ball on only rare occasions. It was one of those days when things didn’t go right and goal-kicking was inconsistent.

Thornbury’s next game is on Saturday week at Cullompton.

Thornbury scorers: try – Jake Wood; penalties – Bob Adams (3)