Sat. 19th October. Dorset Wilts Div 2 North Westbury 29 Swindon 2nds 14.
Westbury moved top of the league with a hard-earned win against Swindon 2nds, the team that were one place above them.
The first half was a torrid affair for the home side with Swindon throwing everything they had at them. Westbury had to defend for their lives but found themselves 7 points down after 16 minutes, after Swindon scored a converted try.
Gradually the White Horse Men dragged themselves into the game and threatened on a couple of occasions, but missed passes and poor handling were proving costly. The half finished with just the one score.
During the break, Westbury coach, Gareth Vaughan, had a few choice words and when the second half started, his team started to be a threat. The first score of the second half came with full back, Ash Hart, collecting a ball that was kicked into the Westbury 22 and linking with centre, Koro Sitiveni, who fed winger, Jamie Dixon, who blitzed the opposition to score in the corner. The conversion was missed.
After Westbury failed to deal properly with the restart kick, the Swindon forwards pounced on the loose ball to score their second try, which was converted. 18 minutes of the half gone and Westbury were 14 – 5 in arrears.
The last 20 minutes is when Westbury’s superior fitness started to tell and they were able to add to their score a few minutes after the Swindon try, when skipper Aaron Vaughan executed a fine cross field kick to flanker, Ryan Knight. It was then a foot race to the try line, with Knight winning the race to score. Vaughan missed the conversion. This left Westbury 4 points behind.
As the half continued, the Westbury forwards started to dominate the Swindon pack and after a series of pick and drives, hooker Jack Bates picked the ball from the base of a ruck and dive in to score. Aaron Vaughan added the extras for Westbury to take the lead for the first time at 17 – 14. Westbury’s bonus-point fourth try was scored in an almost mirror image of Ryan Knight’s try. This time centre, Dan Heatley, caught Vaughan’s cross field kick and with good skills, deftly danced his way over the try line for a converted try. The final result was sealed by the speedster, Jamie Dixon, running down the touchline from his own half with a fantastic burst of speed, to ground the ball in the corner. This time the kick was missed.
This match was probably the toughest game so far this season, with Westbury’s fitness probably the telling factor – that and grim determination won them the match.
This is not the first game where Westbury have been a bit slow to get going into the match, which is a problem that coach ‘Foggy’ Vaughan will have to address, because this week, on Saturday 26th October, it does not get any easier when Devizes 2nds travel to Knott Field. Devizes 2nds are just behind Westbury, having only lost one game so far this season. Westbury remain the only unbeaten side in the league.
