This was to be a dress rehearsal for the cup final on the following Saturday and was not a great start for the visitors.
Within a couple of minutes Calne were 7 – 0 up. This woke up the White Horse men and 5 minutes later Westbury scored their first try with centre Darren Fuller running through Calne’s defence to score, with Aaron Vaughan converting.
Calne drew ahead after Westbury were penalised for handling the ball on the floor. The visitors briefly went into the lead when Fuller scored his second try after Calne were penalised and the ball was quickly moved to him to touch down. The conversion was missed.
The home side then regained the lead with a converted try of their own. A couple of minutes later Calne kicked the ball from their 22 metre line but ‘Ronnie’ Vaughan charged the kick down and followed up by picking up the loose ball to score.
17 – 17 and heading for half time, when once again Westbury were penalised, giving Calne the lead at the break 20 – 17.
5 minutes after the restart Calne drew further ahead after another Westbury penalty. The visitors then set up a series of attacks only to give away soft penalties in scoring positions allowing Calne to clear the ball away and to push Westbury back down the pitch.
Calne were able to capitalise on the Westbury’s penalty count, always able to gain field position and finally finishing with a scrum 5 metres out from the try line. With a final flourish the upbeat Calne forwards were able to drive the Westbury pack back over the line for the final try but missed the conversion. A few minutes later they were able to seal the match with yet another penalty.
Full time 31 – 17 and Calne feeling very confident for the re-match.
Westbury must put this result behind them and learn the lesson if they are hoping to overcome Calne in the final next weekend.
