29th September 2012 Widden Old Boys 8pts Drybrook 37pts

Gloucester Premier League

Drybrook maintained their good form to record an impressive victory at Widden’s Memorial ground. In a match punctuated by ill discipline, there were seven players shown yellow cards at various stages, Drybrook were always in control and fully deserved their bonus point victory.

From the outset a powerful Drybrook scrum set the tone for the afternoon and although they were off target with 2 early penalties, stand off Ben Large put them into an early lead with a smart drop goal.

Widden quickly replied with a penalty but Drybrook hit straight back when Large crossed for a try after a forward drive had created the space out wide.

Tom Treherne converted and Drybrook kept up the pressure with some good link play that kept Widden on the back foot.

The next try came when man of the match prop forward Craig Clarke powered over the line after another good forward drive.

Drybrook gave Widden a torrid time with a number of driving mauls up field and when one was illegally brought down within sight of the line the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try.

Treherne’s simple conversion gave Drybrook a very healthy lead at the break.

Half Time Widden Old Boys 3pts Drybrook 22pts

Treherne added a penalty for Drybrook soon after the interval as the visitors continued to call the shots.

Ten minutes into the second half prop forward Nick Ovens came on as a replacement and made an immediate impact with a try from a line out peel which Treherne again converted.

Drybrook then sat back for a while and allowed the home side to grab a consolation try but they soon recovered to add try number five.

Ovens was again the beneficiary when he rounded off another powerful forward surge to record his second try of the afternoon.

Drybrook team; Tom Treherne, Mitch Baldwin, Simon Rugman ( Capt), Luke Fisher, Sam Peaper, Ben Large, Carl Moore, Jun Sing Lee, Ashley Howells, Craig Clarke, Marcus Cowles, Rich Cottrell, Neil Morgan, Lee Ward, Liam Jackson.

Substitutes; Nick Ovens, Mitch Renton, Danny Griffiths.

Gloucestershire Reserve League North 1

Drybrook United 54pts
Cheltenham North A nil

North arrived with a large confident looking team but were unprepared for the pace of the Drybrook lads, who from the start ran the ball at the opposition and were soon rewarded when an excellent break from Charlie Dagwell inside his own half, led to him unloading to his centre partner Rory Day, who cruised between the posts to open the scoring, Andy Milner adding the extras.

From the restart the ball was well fielded by Rob Clyne who combined well with his back row partners Joe Tingle and Craig Moore to make inroads into the North defence where the ball was quickly re-cycled and well used by Swordy at fly half to create the overlap for Milner to go over for a try which he converted himself.

North rallied briefly and a powerful drive from their forwards was only stopped by some fine defence in which Joe Tingle, selected this week for the County U18 squad, was prominent. The young front row of Jelf, Baynham and Auker-Howlett were enjoying the better of the set pieces and from a strike against the head the ball was fed to the highly impressive Dagwell who outpaced the Cheltenham defenders to take the ball well into their half before unselfishly passing the ball inside to Day who brushed off a couple of tackles on his way to score his second try. The reliable boot of Milner added the conversion to take the home side into a well deserved twenty one point lead.

Drybrooks backrow were prominent in the loose and from a turnover secured by the hard work of Craig Moore the ball was taken on by Tingle who off loaded to Rob Clyne who powerfully forced his way over in the corner, Milner just missing with the conversion. There was still time in the half for impressive debutant Day to score another two tries, his first following a good run from in form winger Connor Hale and the second following a fine move out behind in which Dagwell was again the instigator.

Milner added both conversions to end an impressive half for the home team which saw them leading their opponents by forty points to nil.

Drybrook made changes at the break with Andy Chester coming on at number eight and Virgo replacing Jelf at prop. Cheltenham North had obviously revised their tactics at the interval and proceeded to attempt to slow the game down with their large forwards, a ploy which was working well for them until a speculative kick ahead was picked up by Dagwell who stepped inside the follow up tackle and made ground before passing back inside to Chester who ran in from twenty metres out to score his first try for Drybrook, Milner again successful with the conversion, but the North team refused to lie down and the rest of the half was a close contested affair with the visitors on the attack and Drybrook defending well to keep them from scoring.

A series of strong runs from the Drybrook pack which saw hooker John Baynham making ground along with the ever improving Joe James led to good scoring chances which went begging due to greed and poor options being taken as everyone looked to get themselves on the score sheet.

North were tiring and the young Drybrook side took advantage when Chester scored his second after some good interplay between forwards and backs was rewarded when he took the ball blind and with the help of his fellow forwards drove over the line. Milner added the conversion to take his personal tally for the afternoon to nineteen points and the whistle blew to end a very impressive display from the United side which was well appreciated by the large crowd who had been thoroughly entertained.

Drybrook United XV; Andy Milner( Capt), Connor Hale, Charlie Dagwell, Rory Day, Jack Davies, Adam. Swordy, Danny Verry, Dean Jelf, John. Baynham, Connor. Auker-.Howlett, Joe James, Ben Warren, Joe Tingle, Craig Moore, Rob Clyne.
Replacements; – Andy Chesters, Steve Virgo, Steve Williams, Craig Boughton, Nick Wakeham.

Drybrook Extras match at home to Old Richians 2nds was called off when the Gloucester club were unable to raise a team.