Drybrook Rugby Club

Drybrook R.F.C 13pts
Royal Wootton Bassett 18pts

For the second home game on the bounce Drybrook failed to produce a second half performance to match the first and this time were made to pay heavily as Wootton Bassett took the victory.
On another bright September afternoon Wootton kicked off facing the clubhouse in front of a large crowd at the Manning’s.
From the start Drybrooks forwards retained the ball well and took the play to the opposition.
Wootton were forced to defend their line and despite a number of penalties the young ref decided not to produce a card.
Drybrook continued to press and Glen Nott forced himself over the line to score the first try.
Tom Treherne converted and with ten minutes played Drybrook moved into an early seven-point lead.
With seven changes to the starting line-up from the previous week and several regulars watching from the touchline it was going to need some big performances from the starting fifteen and Joe Tingle, Bailey Watts and scrum-half Corrado Colombo were having excellent games.
Callan Williams was making the most of his opportunity at hooker and Danny Price was as solid as ever out behind.
Drybrook continued to surge forward and the Wootton side again gave away penalties rather than concede a try but still the ref decided that there was no need to punish them further.
Treherne slotted a penalty on eighteen minutes to take Drybrook ten-points clear.
Wootton kicked long and a good chase saw them apply their first pressure of the game which earned them a shot at goal. The Wooton fullback Tom Fieldsend slotted the goal and claim his sides first points of the day.
With fifteen minutes left to play of the half Wooton were retaining the ball better and earned a penalty when Drybrook were caught off-side at the ruck.

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Wootton tapped and went forward into the Drybrook twenty-two, Callan Williams made the tackle but was adjudged not to have been back the full ten yards. This time the young man in the middle found his cards and sent him to the bin.
Wooton now had their tails up and attacked again, all seemed in vain however as Callum Frowen looked to have turned the ball over in favour of the home team. Bewilderingly the ref gave a penalty to Wootton and even more surprisingly sent Frowen to sit on the side-line with Williams.
With only thirteen men on the field Drybrook defended superbly and turned over the possession, Colombo kicked long and the Wootton winger was caught in possession by Watts and forced to hang on to the ball conceding a deliberate penalty that the ref deemed once again not bad enough to for him to join the Drybrook players in the bin.
Treherne again slotted the penalty and despite their numerical disadvantage Drybrook moved further in front.
Wootton again went in search of points from the restart, but the Drybrook defence held and again earned the penalty.
What should have happened next was Drybrook kicking the ball into touch and seeing out the half ten-points in front. When the penalty kick failed to make touch however Wootton were gifted the opportunity to run it back at the thirteen-man defence. The Wootton centre broke through and looked likely to score but a fine covering tackle from Tingle saw him lose possession, in what to everyone on the side-line looked to be a knock-on. The ball was scooped up by the visitor’s hooker who dived over in the corner where the ref awarded the try.
A fine conversion from the full-back saw Wootton right back in it only trailing by thirteen points to ten at the break.

As good as Drybrook had been in the first half, the second period could not have been much worse.
Wootton to their credit were now playing a far better game and Drybrook were forced to defend manfully to prevent the visitors from scoring.
This they did well, but any possession they had they squandered by losing the ball in contact or failing to find touch with their penalties.
The accuracy was just not there and when they failed to react quickly at a penalty situation, where the fullback chipped over the defence for his winger to collect and score, it was no surprise the home team found themselves trailing by two points.
Out of frustration more than anything else Mitch Bourne put a late tackle in on the visitors full-back and at last the ref was justified in showing someone a yellow card.
Wootton kicked the penalty.
Trailing by five points Drybrook at last put some phases together. The ball was moved out to the young wing Owain Evans who was brought down a couple of yards short of the try-line. The tackler who had not released the winger then grabbed the ball. Unsurprisingly the ref gave a penalty for Drybrook holding on and Wootton were able to clear the ball to safety and claim the victory.
Next week Drybrook are on the coast down at Bournemouth and will be looking for an improvement on their showing in the second-half of this game.

Drive on Dry!

Drybrook – Tom Treherne, Owain Evans, Danny Price, Ryan Chappell, Lee Wakefield, Dillon Worseley, Corrado Colombo, Dean Jelf, Callan Williams, Harry Daynes, Glen Nott, Joe Tingle, Bailey Watts, Kyle Frowen, Mitch Bourne Replacements Mitch Hale, Cameron Cobett, Ashley Howells.