Midsomer Norton (home) 14th September 2013

Western Counties North
Drybrook 38pts
Midsomer Norton 3pts

Drybrook started this game at a high tempo and threatened to blow Midsomer Norton away with 2 tries in the opening minutes.
The first came when slick hands led to fullback Kristian Taft releasing winger Sam Peaper on the left and although the attack was halted, the ball was quickly moved to the opposite wing where Mitch Baldwin scored on the overlap.
A few minutes later, relentless pressure led to flanker Joe Tingle crashing over for try number two and Ollie Clements converted to put Drybrook in command.
The visitors hit back with a penalty five minutes later but Drybrook should have scored straight after when a golden opportunity was squandered.
Midsomer Norton then got more into the game as the half wore on but could not break through and just before the break Drybrook scored again.
A penalty kick to the corner led to a catch and drive and prop Jun Sing Lee was driven over.
Half Time:
Drybrook 17pts
Midsomer Norton 3pts
Drybrook started the second half strongly and within a few minutes got the bonus point try when Peaper burrowed over from close range and Clements added the extras.
A long period of stalemate then developed with neither team able to assert their authority until 15 minutes from the end.
Busy flanker Dan Price brought the game to life when he was put through the gap before skipping through several tackles to score under the posts.
Clements added the conversion but the visitors did not give up and went on to create several good opportunities but with no reward.
The match ended with Drybrook in control and Baldwin grabbed his second try when he latched on to some powerful forward play to nip through a gap near the posts to give Clements an easy coversion.

Drybrook 1st XV; Kristian Taft, Mitch Baldwin,Dan Cox, Simon Rugman (Capt), Sam Peaper, Ollie Clements, Carl Moore, Jun Sing Lee, Luke Fisher, Nick Ovens, Marcus Cowles, Dale Critchley, Dan Price, Joe Tingle, Mitch Renton.
Replacements; Tom Reed, Lee Ward, Chris Rawlings.

Gloucestershire Reserve League Premier

Drybrook United 36pts
Old Bristolians ‘A’ 20pts

Click here to view match photos

Drybrook opened their league campaign with a fine win against a spirited Old Bristolians team.

The opening period was played at a frantic pace in near perfect conditions with Drybrook having two opportunities to get points on the board through 2 penalties from the usually reliable boot of skipper Andy Milner, but he was off target with both attempts.

With just over 10 minutes played Milner created space for flanker Mitch Hale to go under the posts following a lineout, Milner converting then adding a penalty following an infringement at the breakdown.

This sprung Old Bristolians into action and following some good handling Bristolians scored in the corner.

Next to score was Drybrook through a Milner penalty.

With both teams getting to grips with the new scrummaging laws, Old Bristolians lost their hooker to injury, and with no replacement to call on the game had to go to uncontested scrums.

After another infringement Skipper Milner shunned the opportunity for 3 points to kick to the corner, the forwards duly responded with another try for Mitch Hale.

Old Bristolians added a penalty to bring the score to 17-10 at half time.

The second half kicked off with Drybrook playing up the slope.

With guaranteed ball for both sides from the uncontested scrum Drybrook took every opportunity to use their backs moves to great affect regularly going across the gain line, on one such occasion the ball kept flowing leading to Aiden Price having the simplest of try’s near the posts.

Next to score for Drybrook was winger Jack Davis touching down out wide before his afternoon was cut short due to a potentially serious knee injury.

Old Bristolians then claimed a try back through their left wing who out stripped 2 defenders to score in the corner.

Drybrook still had time to add another try through Jimmy Smith after some good offloading out of the tackle and precision passing.

Man of the match went to Mitch Browning for his tireless work rate in the tight and loose, it was a close run thing after Mitch Hale’s 2 tries kept him in touch with his brother Connor at the top of the try scoring chart.

Special mention to Dean Large for stepping in at short notice and having a solid game.

Gloucestershire Reserve League North 2

Longlevens 2nds 32pts
Drybrook Extras 0pts

With no appointed referee, the home club supplied a deputy but as he did not know the new scrum laws, the scrums had to be uncontested from the start.
This set the tone for the day and played right into Longleven’s hands as they possessed a superior back line who were responsible for all of their scores.
It was not all gloom and doom for Drybrook who played well in parts and in particular new flanker Nathan Gurney looked particularly promising.

Drybrook Extras; Nick Christian, James Meek, Grant Brown, Will Bailey, Jack Freeman, Jimmy Ryder, Ricky Davies, Ben Venner, Tom Maskell (Capt), Alex Balman, Steve Turley, Chris Parker, Nathan Gurney, Iain Murphy, Rich Probert.
Replacements; Craig Jackson, Dan Rogers.