Bristol Harlequins 20ptsDrybrook 22pts
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An Ollie Clements penalty with the last kick of the game gave Drybrook a dramatic victory in a match that had seemingly slipped away from them.
Harlequins were their own worst enemies with a late show of very bad indiscipline that gave Drybrook the opportunity to snatch the spoils.
Drybrook played down the slope in the first half and with so many regulars missing they lacked cohesion and power which gave the home side the chance to spring a surprise.
Harlequins took the lead after 5 minutes with a penalty but Drybrook took the lead just after when a succession of rolling mauls led to second row Glenn Nott touching down.
Drybrook had a lot of the play going down the hill but a major concern to them was the scrum which was obliterated on a number of occasions.
Right on the stroke of half time hooker Craig Clarke extended Drybrook’s lead with a try from a rolling maul and Clements added the conversion to give them some breathing space.
Half Time:
Bristol Harlequins 3pts
Drybrook 12pts
Harlequins reduced the deficit with an early second half penalty and they kept up the momentum to go into the lead when they cut through the mid field for a try near the posts.
Drybrook were living of scraps of possession at this stage and went further behind when they were pushed off their own ball at a five metre scrummage when the home scrum half pounced on the loose ball for a try.
Harlequins really had their tails up at this stage and with 15 minutes to go there seemed no way back for Drybrook.
It was at this point that the visitors showed real character and kept their composure with phase after phase of attacks that finally led to centre Ben Large cutting through for a score near the posts for Clements to convert.
With only one point separating the teams, Harlequins were awarded a penalty from the re-start, and with barely a minute left they kicked for the corner to try and run down the clock.
Drybrook’s Danny Price stole the line out and the visitors threw caution to the wind by running out of defence. The Harlequins N0 8 was penalised for a high tackle on Simon Rugman and when Drybrook took a quick tap the same player was yellow carded for a shoulder charge after making no attempt to tackle.
From another quick tap Drybrook’s Kristian Taft made it to the half way line where he was head butted by the home number 6. This resulted in a massive punch up that even led to one of the home supporters running onto the pitch and attacking the Drybrook players.
Incredibly the referee took no further action once everything had died down except to give Drybrook a penalty kick on half way.
Drybrook kicked up to the home 22 metre line and following the resulting line out Harlequins were penalised for coming over the top at a ruck.
Up stepped Clements to nail the difficult kick from near the touch which was quickly followed by the final whistle.
Drybrook did extremely well to come away from this game with the points especially considering the number of players missing and others playing out of position.
Flanker Danny Price was Drybrook’s stand out performer on the day with Kristian Taft, Tom Treherne and the reliable Clements also performing well.
Drybrook 1st XV; Chris Rawlings, Kristian Taft, Simon Rugman (capt), Ben Large, Dan Cox, Ollie Clements, Tom Treherne, Jun Sing Lee, Craig Clarke, Nick Ovens, Marcus Cowles, Glenn Nott, Neil Morgan, Danny Price, Mitch Bourne.
Replacements; Tom Reed, Harry Gooderham, Mitch Browning.
