Midsomer Norton 28

Stroud 34

POSTMAN Jake Marsh delivered a last-gasp winning try to keep Stroud on top of the table, writes Sean Moore.

This was an exhilarating open game played in the best of spirits which kept players and supporters warm on a cold, dank day in Somerset

Norton had a powerful pack and some inventive, speedy threes and were clearly up to tipping Stroud from top spot.

Stroud were under pressure from the start and the back three of Phipps, Hester and Marsh had plenty of work to do. Stevens saved a certain try by clattering Norton’s wing into touch just before the corner. Norton’s no. 10 kicked astutely into the corner and their alert winger raced over for a converted try, 7-0.

Stroud countered with a penalty goal from Kurtis Herbert whose place-kicking was of the highest quality throughout the match, 7-3. Norton replied with their own penalty, 10-3. Stroud were struggling to gain continuity and made any number of unforced errors, not all of which could be attributed to the greasy ball. In the pack Joe Owens was always at the fore using his telescopic reach to great effect in the lineout and in all round play.

Norton went further ahead with another penalty, 13-3, and Stroud were struggling at this stage. The outlook was improved when Joe Hoyle showed good awareness, breaking from a maul to score an opportunist try which Herbert converted, 13-10.

Half time saw the game finely balanced and Stroud drew even with another successful Herbert kick. Norton responded when their hard-running scrum half made his way through some flimsy tackling to score an unconverted try, 18-13.

For Stroud it was now all or nothing and the response was dramatic. Owens gained the restart and this led to some intelligent link play between the threes and the forwards. This ended with Hester racing away to score an excellent try which Herbert converted from the touchline, 18-20. Stroud were now putting some good phases together and developing a good tempo. The pack was well led by skipper Dan Smith and began to get the upper hand in forward encounters. The pressure paid off when Dan Gordon shimmied his way over from short range, giving Herbert an easy conversion, 18-27. Norton replied with a penalty, 21-27, and then their diminutive young winger scored an excellent try in the corner, expertly catching the ball and diving over, 28-17.

Stroud didn’t panic. In what was the final play they showed good discipline and ball retention. Eventually gaps appeared and fluent movement, which involved some excellent fingertip passing, saw the ball going out to Jake Marsh on the wing. He had three men to beat and, with a mixture of speed, power and deception, scored a brilliant try, well converted by Herbert, 28-34. Stroud’s jubilation at this last gasp bonus point win was palpable.