Wadworth 6X Gloucester Premier League

Chipping Sodbury 15 Gloucester Spartans 7

CHIPPING Sodbury got themselves off to a cracking start in the Wadworth 6X Gloucester Premier League on Saturday with victory over newly-promoted Spartans.

The win has put them in fourth place in the table at the very early stages of the campaign, with a big trip to Almondsbury-based St Mary’s Old Boys on the horizon for this Saturday.

It looked to be a fine contest to open Sodbury’s season last Saturday as both the home team and Spartans looked eager to get going in the warm-up after the summer lay-off.

The early exchanges went the way of Spartans as Sodbury conceded three rapid-fire penalties.

Sodbury threw themselves into the defensive effort with little regard for their own wellbeing.

The intense nature of these clashes led to some over-frank discussions up front.

Once the referee had separated the two players, he sent both of them, one from each team, off.

Spartans maintained the pressure on the Sodbury try line but were unable to cross it due to the tackling of Jon Cook, Lee Ralph and Phil Player.

They were also stung by their own lack of discipline, as they conceded penalties while Sodbury gleefully kicked to relieve the pressure.

A line-out on halfway was expertly won by Player, who has returned to first team duty.

The ball found Raffi Sheik, who came thundering off the wing to smash his way deep into the Spartan half.

His crossing of the gain line led to three rapid rucks before Sodbury were awarded a penalty for a high tackle.

Cook stepped up and stroked it between the uprights for a 3-0 lead.

Both teams kept at it, with Spartans having some success out wide, but Sodbury’s never-say-die scrambling defence kept them at bay.

Both teams went on to miss a shot at goal, along with receiving a yellow card each.

This left the new Sodbury coaching team of Harvey Skelton and Matt Dew plenty to sort out at half-time.

The instructions received seemed to have some effect and Sodbury’s effort now had some cohesion.

Dom Pullen took over from Tom Farthing, who had run himself to a standstill.

The culmination of Pullen’s defence and a 20 metre line-out drive had the crowd bellowing their approval. When Spartans sent a long kick down the pitch, James Bennett was on hand.

He set in motion a wonderful sweeping move from 75m. There were thunderous rucks which saw quick ball used by the likes of Pete Butcher, who evaded the Spartans tacklers.

Things slowed down 15m out but a dummy run from Scott Kembry, who had run his legs off during the game, fixed the defence and made space for Dan Bradley.

Rapid passes found Cook, who easily drew two defenders before feeding to Raffi, who cruised in to score.

The Sodbury scrum was ratcheting up the domination, which was largely due to Ralph and Al Keeping, who was playing out of position at tighthead.

Jason Petchey was brought on for Kembrey and his tackle count was high but his poaching of Spartans’ line-out ball was inspirational.

On the hour, Sodbury kicked a penalty for a line-out 15m from the Spartans line.

They lost the ball but Al Keeping wasn’t having any of that. He shouldered his way through the melee and ripped the ball free.

One ruck infield spat the ball out for Bradley, who found Jake Lewis and he unleashed his footwork and scampered in for a try which Cook converted.

Sodbury now had a bit of breathing space with the score at 15-0.

However, they seemed to relax and kept up the infringements.

From a penalty, Spartans found touch just 10m out. The resulting drives at the Sodbury try line had real venom.

Bennett led the way with the first try-saving tackle. He was followed by others.

As fatigue started to bite, one tackle rode up and was high enough for a penalty try.

The game was on for another 10 minutes but neither team could score again and Sodbury won.