Sat. 20th Nov. Dorset & Wilts Division 1 North Westbury 10 – 48 Frome 2nds
WESTBURY travelled to near-neighbours Frome, to play against their 2nd XV, knowing this was always going to be a difficult fixture against the top-of-the-league team, who have only lost one game all season.
That said, it came as a bit of a shock to the visitors to find themselves 7 – 0 down inside 2 minutes. The pressure on the Westbury defence was immense from a rampant Frome team, whose ball handling skills and attacking play saw them run in 4 more tries in the first half. It was not all one-way traffic though, as Westbury fought back and came close to scoring themselves on at least 3 occasions, but it was not to be and at half time, Frome led by 29–0.
The second half proved to be a little better for Westbury who managed to score 2 unconverted tries, scored by James Leat and Joeli Navuku, in reply to Frome, who added a further 3 converted tries of their own. At the final whistle, Frome took the honours with a 48–10 win.
This result left Westbury dropping down to 7th position in the league and with next week’s fixture against Trowbridge 2nds, who have the same number of league wins as Frome, difficult times are ahead. Getting promoted to division one, the season was never going to be easy, but it is taking time to build a new team as several senior players have hung up their boots.
Next week’s fixture is at Knott Field on the 27th November, KO2.30pm.
Report by Paul Couzens.
