Gloucester Premier League

Chipping Sodbury 41 Barts Rugby 19

CHIPPING Sodbury started last weekend’s game in the knowledge that beating Barts would elevate them to third place in the Gloucester Premier League.

The opening exchanges went the way of the visitors and Sods were forced to show their mettle in defence.

The game shifted in Sodbury’s favour on five minutes when their muscular pack drove Barts back ten metres at a scrum on the 22.

The ball then went quickly left where it found Joe Horton, he straightened up the attack and passed to James Bennett.

Bennett appeared from fullback and threw an outrageous dummy to fly in for the opening try.

Just three minutes later, the ball was moved right from another scrum 20m out.

The attack then switched to the left but, when the ball was knocked on, Sodbury realised they had been playing under a penalty advantage.

Dynamic Captain Pete Butcher ignored an easy kick at goal and took the penalty to himself.

With a rush of strength, he surged for the line and it took the whole of Barts’ pack to repel him.

Following up was Matt Cook. He pounced on the perfectly placed ruck ball and burst over to score, shouldering through two defenders using the power in his legs.

Barts were shell shocked and did their best to rally themselves.

But, on 15 minutes, Sodbury’s Alan Keeping rose high at a line-out on the 22.

His sure hands, along with the rest of the pack, advanced inexorably until Butcher broke away and was somehow held up over the line.

Horton was sent crashing through the Barts line following the 5m scrum only to be stripped of the ball.

The large crowd was on the edge of their seats as yet more drama unfolded.

Livewire hooker Dave Guest charged at the kicker and forced them into a mistake.

The ball missed touch and dropped into the hands of Dan Bradley.

His cosy running style belies his speed and power, he used all of this to swerve around and break tackles on his way to scoring his first try of three in the game.

Barts weren’t dead yet and scored a try. But Sodbury upped their line speed and collision intensity.

With the break approaching, the Sods drove hard from a 5m line-out.

This time, Barts somehow managed to hold up the determined bulk of Luke Balentine-Smith.

The resulting 5m scrum was bossed by Sodbury’s front-row who are all in a rich vein of form.

The ball went through two phases before being popped up to Horton. The winger came back against the grain and there was no way he was going to be denied as he went in beneath the posts.

The second half was notable for the way Lee Ralph dominated and led the forward defensive effort, handing out a torrid time up front.

After just five minutes, a penalty was awarded to Sodbury for offside in front of the posts.

Once more, the penalty was taken quickly. What ensued looked like the Keystone Cops put to the Benny Hill chase music until Bradley got his hands on the ball.

He must see things like a fly, such is his ability to avoid a rushing defence.

A step, a dummy, and a swerve left offenders wondering where he had gone as he went over.

Sodbury still weren’t immune to pressure, though, and conceded again as Barts kept at them.

In reply, Sodbury’s defence launched a blitz attack. Pullen was on hand to smash and grab in for a try.

With the Sodbury faithful and players hardly able to believe that they had such an advantage over Barts, the home side struck for the final time.

From a scrum 10m out, the ball went left, some intricate handling saw it back in the hands of Bradley to complete his hat-trick and 21-point contribution. Barts got the last consolation try.