Drybrook 46pts
St Mary’s Old Boys 3pts
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Drybrook moved back to the top of the league on points difference over Frampton Cotterell with this latest victory.
The home team started very slowly and St Marys took the lead after 2 minutes with a penalty goal but Mitch Baldwin soon leveled things for Drybrook with a similar effort after 7 minutes.
Drybrook then had most of the play but were frustrated by some good defence from the visitors.
With 20 minutes gone Drybrook finally grabbed a try when a catch and drive at a lineout resulted in scrum half Carl Moore powering over.
Relentless pressure from Drybrook then followed and it cam as no surprise when skipper Simon Rugman broke through near the posts for Baldwin to convert.
Right on the stroke of half time Baldwin charged down a kick on half way and centre Luke Fisher hacked on the loose ball and won a terrific race to the touchdown near the posts to make the conversion a formality.
Half Time
Drybrook 22pts
St Mary’s Old Boys 3pts
Within a minute of the restart substitute prop Nick Ovens scored with his first touch of the ball after taking the last pass following some great rugby involving a lot of off loading and inter passing.
More good stuff from Drybrook resulted in substitute flanker Danny Price going over for a try on his comeback from injury.
St Marys were finding it hard to keep Drybrook out and the loss of their stand off to the bin for a high tackle made their task even harder.
They did well to keep the home side in check for a while but eventually the deadlock was broken when Rugman followed up his own kick to finish off with his trademark dive under the posts with Baldwin adding the extras.
Drybrook continued to make life hard for the visitors and were awarded a penalty try by referee Charlie Gayther when a powerful drive to the line was illegally halted as prop Tom Reed looked certain to score.
Baldwin converted but Drybrook were unable to add to their score despite a lot of possession and territory.
Carl Moore was Drybrook’s man of the match with his constant probing keeping the home side on the front foot whilst hooker John Baynham gave a good account of himself on his league debut.
Elsewhere prop Tom Reed was in good form and stand off Chris Rawlings, finding himself back in the side following Ben Large’s broken arm, showed no signs of slowing down despite celebrating his 40th birthday.
Drybrook team: Mitch Baldwin, Andy Bulumakau, Simon Rugman (capt), Luke Fisher, Sam Peaper, Chris Rawlings, Carl Moore, Jun Sing Lee, John Baynham, Tom Reed, Rich Cottrell, Marcus Cowles, Lee Ward, Andy Chesters, Liam Jackson.
Substitutes; Rory Day, Nick Ovens, Dan Price
