Sat 27th. Nov. Dorset & Wilts Division 1 North Westbury 20 – 45 Trowbridge 2nds
For the second week in a row Westbury faced a tough match when the club welcomed Trowbridge 2nd XV to Knott Field. The visitors, similar to Frome last week, have only lost one league game this season and obviously full of confidence.
It was Westbury who opened the scoring when Trowbridge were caught offside and penalised. The kick was taken by Mat Inseal. 3 – 0 to Westbury and a confident start but it did not take long for Trowbridge to snatch the lead with a well taken try when they ran through a disorganised Westbury defence to score and convert.
After 15 minutes the visitors extended their lead with a second try after some good ball handling to score close to the posts making for an easy conversion
Westbury replied with a try of their own, scored by wing Jamie Dixon, after full back, James Leat had stormed up field and passed the ball wide to Dixon for him to score. Inseal missed the conversion. Trowbridge extended their lead soon after with a try scored in the corner but missed their conversion. A lead of 11 points to the visitors after 20 minutes. 5 minutes later Westbury’s James Leat received the ball just inside the Trowbridge half, ran outside the defenders and in a foot race to the try line was able to score under the posts, making an easy kick for Mat Inseal to add the extras. This cut the Trowbridge led to only 4 points and Westbury were starting to gain some confidence.
On 35 minutes, Westbury had an attacking lineout 10 metres out from the Trowbridge try line, but the throw was off line and the Trowbridge forwards poured through the lineout to claim the ball and power up field, running through a flat-footed Westbury defence to score under the posts with a converted try. Trowbridge now 26 – 15 at the half time whistle.
The second half started with Westbury attacking the Trowbridge 22 area but unfortunately the move broke down when the ball carrying player was penalised for not releasing the ball and Trowbridge were able to relieve the pressure. After carrying the ball into the Westbury half, they were awarded a penalty when the defenders were caught offside. Quick thinking, they took a tap penalty and moved the ball wide to score in the corner and with a well taken kick, converted.
Westbury were able to reply with a lineout 5 metres out from the Trowbridge try line and this time with good control drove over to score. Replacement number 8, Charlie Tunstall, claimed the try, which was not converted.
Trowbridge had the last word though and taking control of the game ran in 2 more tries, converting one of them.
The end result was a win for the visitors 45 – 20.
Westbury played well and at times put in some good phases with the forwards carrying over the gain line and the backs handling the ball well. The downside was that there were several missed tackles, and the defence became slightly disorganised at times. Even with the loss, though, Westbury remain at 7th in the league.
Report by Paul Couzens,
Photo by Martin Pearce – Marcus Holstead reaching high.
