Sat. 15th Feb. Dorset and Wilts Div. 2 North Devizes 2nds 7 Westbury RFC 0
Westbury’s unbeaten run of 20 matches was sunk in the Devizes mud on Saturday 15th February.
The game was played in awful conditions on a pitch that had more water and mud on it than grass. This was never going to be good for Westbury’s game of precise ball handling and quick speedsters.
To be fair, Devizes mastered the conditions better than Westbury who in the first half tried to run with the ball at almost every opportunity. Consequently there were quite a few dropped passes and knocks on which led to the visitors putting themselves under pressure. Plus, losing scrum half, James Catley-Day after 15 minutes to a foot injury didn’t help. It was only a sterling defence by Westbury that stopped Devizes from scoring in the first half.
The second half kicked off with the score still at 0 – 0, but Devizes had the elements at their backs and soon had Westbury defending in their own 22 metre area. After 9 minutes, Westbury had a scrum, 5 metres out from their try line. Westbury lost possession of the ball allowing Devizes in for the try and remarkably, in the poor weather conditions, the conversion was good.
That was to be the only score of the game and to be perfectly honest Westbury struggled to get out of their own half. Devizes kept a firm hold of the game by tactical kicking over the top of the defence and turning the Westbury players who had to race back and defend against the onrush of the Devizes backs. The visitors managed to hold out until the final whistle, thereby earning themselves at least a losing bonus point.
Although the loss is hard to accept, it will have the affect of concentrating the mindset of the Westbury players who, I am sure will go into next week’s Southern Counties Vase Final (Saturday 22nd February) and their remaining league fixtures with renewed determination.
Westbury still remain top of the league, with a 17 point lead. Once again, the players would like to thank their travelling supporters for braving the terrible conditions to cheer the team on.
