Drybrook Rugby Club

Barnstaple R.F.C 24pts
Drybrook R.F.C 5pts

Sunglasses and bobble hats were the order of the day for the six hundred plus supporters, as the bright sunshine shone down from a clear blue sky on a lovely afternoon in Devon.
Unfortunately for Drybrook Barnstaple were not as kind as the weather and it was only a very good defensive effort that kept the score-line within respectability.
The big Barnstaple pack had the upper-hand in the set piece and used this weapon to great effect to open the scoring after five minutes. A number of scrums in the Drybrook twenty-two produced the space for the Barnstaple wing to cross in the left-hand corner.
The game continued in the same fashion; Barnstaple happy to use their big forwards to make the time for their halfbacks to keep the visitors penned in their own half.
Drybrook battled well and Mitch Bourne made numerous carries from the back of an under pressure scrummage. All too many times though, promising positions were lost when the visitors lost the ball in contact.

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Despite Barnstaple’s considerable advantage in terms of field position, they were unable to break through a resilient rear-guard action, until they eventually rolled over from a maul in the thirty-fifth minute. The conversion was successful and the home team led twelve points to nil at the break.
Drybrook played some of their best rugby at the beginning of the second-half and should have taken advantage when they earned a penalty in mid-field. The kick to touch was missed and Barnstaple broke up-field to earn a penalty of their own.
They made no mistake with their touch-kick and then drove forward from the resulting line-out.
With the line at their mercy Glen Nott was forced to take action and brought down the maul earning a yellow card in the act of denying the home team a scoring opportunity.
It was somewhat in vain though as Barnstaple opted for the scrum and used their numerical advantage to score a try through their winger.
Drybrook were now under the cosh and seven

minutes later Barnstaple added to their tally when a quickly taken tap penalty ended in a try for their scrum-half, and a yellow for Renton. The conversion was successful and the home team led by twenty-four points, with fifteen minutes left to play.
Rather than throw in the towel Drybrook made sure that the home side were not able to add to their score, and on seventy-five minutes scored a try of their own through Olly Moore which was only just reward for a brave and spirited performance.
Drybrook are on the road again next week when they travel to Exmouth for a rearranged match.
With the league once again as tight as ever, the men in Green will be looking for their first win of the New Year in order to stay above the relegation battle.

Drive on Dry!

Drybrook – Moore – Roberts – Price – Large – Baldwin – Stevenson – Marsh – Bourne – Frowen – Tingle – Renton – Nott – Hale – Auker-Howlett – Daynes – Peaper – Watts – Timmony.