Saturday 15th Jan. Dorset & Wilts Division 1 North. Westbury 24 Swindon 2nds 5
AT LONG last Westbury secured their first home win and a bonus point against a strong Swindon side.
The White Horse men have not played since 11th December owing to members of the squad suffering with COVID, plus having had several players injured, so it was good for coach Gareth Vaughan to name a full side.
For the first 20 minutes the game swung back and forth with neither side able to score. Finally, the deadlock was broken when Swindon kicked deep out of their 22. The ball stayed in field and was collected by Westbury’s wing Jamie Dixon, who ran back at the opposition and linking with the other Westbury wing Alex Down, was able to draw the defenders and make the space for Down to receive his pass and race over the try line to score. Unfortunately, the conversion was missed.
The half continued without any addition to the score. 5 – 0 to the home side.
Six minutes into the second half saw Swindon win a lineout on Westbury’s 22 line and they swiftly passed the ball down the line of backs. That was until Westbury wing Jamie Dixon was able to intercept the last pass and, in a foot, race the length of the pitch, he was able to score Westbury’s second try. Once again, the conversion was missed.
Ten minutes later Westbury won a scrum about 15 metres inside the Swindon half. Number 8 Josh Ford picked up and passed out to scrum half Mat Inseal who linked up with his full back, Maciu Rabeta. Running deep into the Swindon 22 the full back passed to outside centre James Leat who had an easy run to the try line. Mat Inseal was able to add the extra points.
The visitors then came back at the home side, forcing Westbury to defend desperately and they were guilty of giving away a string of penalties. With ten minutes to go and the referee losing his patience, he sent a player to the bin for not releasing a tackled player.
Five minutes later and using numerical advantage from a scrum, Swindon put the ball wide to score a try. The conversion was missed.
With the clock ticking down, Westbury went all out to score their bonus point fourth try. Full back Maciu Rabeta almost scored but was brought down just short of the line. From the ensuing ruck, the ball was knocked on by a Swindon player and Westbury awarded a scrum on the visitors’ five metre line, the ball was won and carried to the open side, then scum half Inseal changed the direction to the blind side and the ball finished up with James Leat for him to score his second and Westbury’s fourth try. Inseal added the conversion, and the referee blew for the end of the match.
Westbury won by 24 points to 5. Next week, 22nd January, the White Horse Men travel to Sutton Benger.
Report by Paul Couzens; Picture by Alan Swan
