Sat 9 Apr 2016
Tribute South West 1 West
Thornbury 46 Weston-super-Mare 17
Report from Thornbury RFC website by Dave Fox
Thorns scored three tries in the first quarter of the game to open up a lead that Weston were unable to recover from.
Sam Evans returned as hooker with Luke Workman reverting to prop in the only changes in the pack. With Sam Phelps out for the rest of the season Alfie Richardson started on the left wing and with Bob Adams unavailable Jak Evans came in at scrum half. Then at the eleventh hour Chops O’Loughlin was forced to withdraw and Dai Matthews was unwell forcing late changes to the selected side. Adam Hodgkins came in as front row cover and Sam Jenkins, home from university, stepped in as the backs cover. Gareth Morgan had been passed fit by a doctor and joined them on the bench.
Weston had won eight of the last nine games and could mathematically reach the play-offs. Defeat would mean they would be in South West One West next season. They included former Thornbury junior player Richard Bignell at No.8 and former England prop Darren Crompton, who began his coaching career at Thornbury when a Bristol player, was on the bench.
A chilly wind blew diagonally across the pitch and Thornbury played with the elements in the first half. Weston kicked off downhill and although Thornbury attacked from the start Weston secured a turnover and attacked ferociously. With only a few minutes gone lock Ash Russell was injured and Weston had lost one of their biggest forwards. It didn’t seem to weaken the scrum and after Weston shunted the Thornbury scrum back at the first set-piece Dan Lomax opened the scoring with a penalty.
Weston failed to deal with the restart properly but Thorns knocked on in the Weston ‘22’. However, Thorns managed to take a scrum against the head and moved the ball out wide. Rich Bennett made good ground then the ball was moved to the left and Jak Evans broke through some weak tackles to score close to the posts. Tom Luke converted for a 7-3 lead.
Thorns were playing at a high pace and despite one or two handing errors the accuracy was better than the previous weekend. They had excellent continuity and after several phases Rich Bennett was again put clear in space and Tom Luke and Rob Higgitt put Will Sharratt through a gap and the centre scored. The conversion was blown wide but Thorns were well worth their 12-3 lead. The wind blew a further Tom Luke penalty wide before the fullback judged the wind perfectly and kicked a long-distance penalty to extend the lead to 15-3.
Weston restarted and Thorns ran the ball back. Sharratt burst through a tackle and raced clear from half-way to score between the posts. The conversion saw Thorns 22-3 ahead as the first quarter ended.
The try seemed to galvanise Weston. Their forwards began to get into the game and a fine tackle from Alfie Richardson on wing Chris Young saved a certain try. Then Bignell was yellow-carded following a high tackle made without use of the arms. However Weston made light of their numerical disadvantage and controlled most of the rest of the first half. Louis Osborne left the field with an injury and Gareth Morgan came on. Shortly afterwards Adam Hodgkins came on for Luke Workman.
Thornbury seemed to over-complicate things as they tried to get the fourth try. Forcing the play caused errors and Weston capitalised. As the game approached half time Weston attacked close to the Thornbury line. Then as the game went into injury time Liam Pemberton was yellow-carded for hands in the ruck. A minute later a powerful Weston scrum tied up the Thornbury defence and quick passing exploited the man advantage and fullback Ross Bennett crashed over in the corner. Lomax converted expertly from the touchline and half time came with Thorns ahead 22-10.
It took Thornbury two minutes to secure the try bonus. From a driving lineout Thornbury shoved Weston over their line and Dan Kerr touched down for the try. Tom Luke converted for 29-10.
Although the deficit was substantial Weston still enjoyed most of the territory and possession but they did little with the ball. Thorns defended in a controlled way and forced a turnover and cleared up-field. Thornbury made the game safe fourteen minutes into the second half with a glorious try. Thorns attacked at pace and Dan Kerr crashed through two tacklers then made the ball available and accurate passing put Rich Bennett into space and he had too much pace for the Weston defence and scored out wide. Tom Luke added the extras with a very good kick and at 36-10 Thorns were out of sight.
Five minutes later the excellent Jack Hussey secured a turnover and Jak Evans made a break before good passing gave Alfie Richardson the ball in space. He threaded his way through three Weston defenders to race clear for another terrific try. Tom Luke’s perfect conversion took Thorns up to 43-10. Thorns emptied the bench with Sam Jenkins coming on for Rob Higgitt and Luke Workman returning for George Sheldon.
Thorns were beginning to incur the displeasure of the referee and James Wood saw yellow for coming off his feet at a ruck on half way. It seemed that Woody received the card due to the cumulative effect of his team-mates’ indiscipline. Louis Osborne came back on for Jack Hussey.
With four minutes of normal time remaining Weston again made their numerical advantage tell when attacking from a lineout and good passing put Matt Watkins in at the corner. Lomax converted.
However, Thornbury had the last say. Thorns attacked and took play to the Weston line and although they lost the ball Rich Bennett tackled Richard Bignell in front of his posts. The Weston No.8 was penalised for not releasing and Tom Luke thumped over a penalty. The kick drew the final whistle from the referee and Thorns had a remarkable 46-17 win.
Few would have predicted a win by such a large margin but Thornbury had made the most of the opportunities they created for themselves. They played positive rugby attacking at every opportunity and frequently with an intensity and tempo which Weston struggled with. Weston’s heavy pack caused problems but Thorns were able to manage them and turn defence into attack with considerable aplomb. The defence was excellent and Weston scored all bar three of their points when Thorns had a man in the sin bin.
In another fine team performance there were some great individual contributions. Sam Evans and Dan Kerr were outstanding in the pack and Rich Bennett and Tom Luke had great games in the backs. Alfie Richardson took his try superbly but the sponsors from Cotswold Homes awarded the “Ronnie’s of Thornbury Man of the Match” to Wayne Underwood who had a terrific game keeping the Weston back row busy and creating openings throughout the game.
With Newent also securing a try bonus Thorns are four points ahead with two games remaining. With Newent likely to secure maximum points from their games Thorns find themselves facing another “cup final” next Saturday as they travel to league champions Camborne knowing that they need to secure at least two points to be in the mix on the last Saturday.
Thornbury: Tom Luke; Rich Bennett, Will Sharratt, Rob Higgitt, Alfie Richardson; Wayne Underwood, Jak Evans; Luke Workman, Sam Evans, George Sheldon, James Wood, Dan Kerr, Louis Osborne, Liam Pemberton (c), Jack Hussey.
Reps: Adam Hodgkins, Gareth Morgan, Sam Jenkins
Thornbury scorers - tries: Will Sharratt (2), Jak Evans, Dan Kerr, Rich Bennett, Alfie Richardson; cons: Tom Luke (5); pens: Tom Luke (2); yellow cards: Liam Pemberton (40-52), James Wood (67-80)
Weston-super-Mare: Ross Bennett; Chris Young, Huw Morgan, Kirk Middlemiss, Matt Watkins; Dan Lomax, Hayden Tuttiett; Sam Coles (c), Mike Hocking, Ollie Streeter, Ash Russell, Andy Glenn, Bryan Webb, Richard Johnston, Richard Bignell.
Reps: Darren Crompton, Tom Sugg, Troy Hannam
Weston-super-Mare scorers - tries: Ross Bennett, Matt Watkins; cons: Dan Lomax (2); pen: Dan Lomax; yellow card: Richard Bignell (26-37)
Referee: Matt Johnson (Bristol Society)
