Thornbury were second best as they were beaten by a fired-up Newent side writes Dave Fox.

Alfie Richardson scored a hat-trick as Thornbury salvaged a try bonus point but the defeat sees them slip to tenth in the table.

Newent were close to scoring from the kick-off and piled on early pressure which concluded with a try from their forwards.

The match had started on the second team pitch while an injury sustained in the curtain-raiser was dealt with so switched to the main pitch where Newent continued to dominate and scored a second try from their pack to open up a 10-0 lead.

Thornbury had some possession for the first time in the match and after the forwards drove close to the line, the ball was moved through the backs and Richardson came off his wing and scored a try. Jake Wood converted with a fine kick to reduce arrears to 10-7.

However, Newent scored again, out wide directly from a scrum in front of the posts to lead 15-7.

Shortly afterwards, Richardson surged through a gap in his half, Wood and Sam Poustie took the play on and after Sam Evans had charged for the line, Jim Massey drove over but the referee disallowed the try. Thorns attacked from a scrum, tied up midfield and Richardson slid in at the corner for his second try. The conversion missed and Newent led 15-12 at half time.

Thornbury needed to start the second half well but did precisely the opposite as Newent surged to the home line and from a scrum scored the bonus point try. Things got worse as Thorns tried to force the game but handling was sloppy and the loose ball was kicked ahead for a converted try that extended Newent's lead to 27-12.

Shortly afterwards Newent extended their lead when further missed tackles allowed the visitors to score two further tries. Now trailing 39-12 Thorns were desperate to score and after the forwards tried to barge their way over a grubber kick behind the defence was dived on by Tom Williams for a try. Wood converted.

Newent scored again from a scrum. Thorns did salvage something from the game with a valuable bonus point secured with seconds to go.

The Thornbury scrum put Newent in trouble and after Williams drove in midfield Richardson ran in for his hat-trick try.

Wood concluded the scoring with the conversion but at 26-46 Thornbury were comfortably beaten as they suffered back-to-back defeats.