Winscombe lost out to near neighbours Weston United, when a late penalty gave the visitors a three-point victory.

Winscombe 10 pts

Weston United 13 pts

THE visitors got off to the better start in this local derby between two of the three unbeaten teams in the Somerset Premier League with two unconverted tries within 14 minutes.

When Weston knocked forward at the restart, Adam Scrase took advantage to drive powerfully upfield and Steve Pugh took a simple three points from a penalty awarded.

Winscombe managed to retain possession for the first time in the match when drives by Ware, Scrase and Will Thomas created room for James Flower to flick on Salway’s pass to create an overlap, but the chance was lost.

This was a good period for Winscombe and from a line-out on the 22, they drove a maul headed by Scrase to within two metres of the line to win a penalty. They elected to scrummage and Thomas picked up for Salway to send Flower under the posts. Pugh’s conversion tied the score at 10-10 after 30 minutes.

After the break, Weston had a couple of chances to take the lead, but the penalty kicks went wide.

With 15 minutes remaining, a good kick by Salway pinned Weston back into their 22. Good pressure forced an error and a driving maul from a line-out gave Winscombe a five metre put-in, but Weston somehow managed to stem the tide.

Another penalty chance went begging for Weston, but they were awarded another chance two minutes later, which they converted for the winning score.