Narrow one-point win for Winscombe

Wells 10 pts

THE first 20 minutes saw both teams vying for possession and territory, each giving away a penalty which Wells stand-off, Simon Evans converted followed in quick succession by Winscombe centre James Carter at the other end.

Both sides continued to attack using their power up front, which seemed fairly even both in the loose and set pieces. Wells started a pick and drive move and despite solid defending by Winscombe, Wells No 8 Josh Stuart spun of the loose maul to touch down under the posts for Evans to convert.

The remaining 20 minutes of the half was a case of both teams displaying solid defences, but signs of Winscombe dominance up front was starting to show. On half time, Carter slotted over a penalty to reduce Wells’ lead to 10-6.

The second half continued in much the same vein with both defences working hard. The Winscombe front five were particularly dominant and man of the match, Adam Scrase was prominent throughout the match.

Twenty minutes into the second half, quick ball by scrum-half Tom Merry saw stand-off Ben Irons create a swift scissor move with centre Carter to retake the ball and cut through the Wells defence and score in the corner to give Winscombe a well-earned victory by the narrowest of margins 11-10.

During the match, the Wells spectators and players did not seem to understand the new laws in the rucks and mauls and spent a lot of time complaining about the penalties awarded by the referee. At the final whistle, this lack of understanding culminated in the Wells touch judge being red carded for abusing the referee.

Criticism and abuse of referees is high on the RFU list of topics to be stamped out and clubs are encouraged to report such bad behaviour this has been passed on to the Somerset RFU.

This Saturday, Winscombe are away at Avon and the Seconds are at home to Oldfield II. Both 3pm kick-offs.