Winscombe 26 pts Stothert & Pitt 31 pts - IN both fixtures last season, it took last-minute come backs from the away side to steal the points on offer.

Winscombe 26 pts

Stothert & Pitt 31 pts

IN both fixtures last season, it took last-minute come backs from the away side to steal the points on offer. Unfortunately, for Winscombe, the trend seems to be continuing.

Having been under pressure from the whistle, Winscombe did well to steal the ball from Stothert when they were just yards from the try line, but due to the disarray in the Winscombe back line, the pass from the base of the ruck was intercepted for the simplest of tries for the visitors.

With Winscombe utilising the numerous kickers in the backs, Stothert found themselves constantly having to play out of their own half. Having stolen possession and applied a period of sustained pressure the result was a try from Winscombe captain Andy Ball, who ripped the ball from the maul and dived over from close range for Owen Howell to convert to tie the game.

It was from a Stothert error that Winscombe super sub Matt Drew fly hacked a dropped pass down the pitch and showing some neat footwork guided the ball over the line to dive on for the first of his three tries.

Unfortunately, this lead was not to last and from an error at the restart, Stothert almost immediately came back up the pitch and having drawn out the Winscombe defence, switched play and used their overlap to run in for a try close to the posts. To complete the scoring for the half Winscombe put together 10 minutes of superb all-round rugby. From solid set pieces and powerful forward surges, they dragged Stothert to one side and then switched to the open side for Drew to squeeze through a gap next to the posts. The half finished 19-14 to Winscombe.

The second half started in perfect fashion for Winscombe after long, raking kicks from Drew and House piled more pressure on the Stothert set pieces. Following strong commitment to a ruck on the Stothert goal line, Winscombe were able to barge the visitors off the ball and Drew was there to touch down to complete his and Winscombe's scoring for the day.

At 26-14, the Winscombe players fell to a level of complacency that infuriated the home support and buoyed Stothert and their supporters. From numerous mistakes by Winscombe, Stohtert stole all momentum and came to life with 15 minutes left in which they scored 17 unanswered points and barely let the home side into their half. As the final whistle went a deflated Winscombe were left ruing missed chances and lack of composure in a game that was there for the taking.