Winscombe reached the semi-finals of the Bristol Combination Wadsworth 6X Vase after defeating Frampton Cotterell under floodlights.

Winscombe 46 pts

Frampton Cotterell 7 pts

WINSCOMBE entertained Frampton Cotterell from the Gloucester Premier League under lights in a quarter-final of the Bristol Combination Wadworth 6X Vase.

The hosts ran in eight tries for a comfortable victory and with the other teams in the semi-finals from higher leagues, the next round will be a sterner test.

Winscombe put together an all-round team effort in which Adam Scrase, Chris Aske and Owen Howell were notable contributors. Frampton had a stand-out player at inside centre, but unfortunately for him, Winscombe are also impressive in midfield.

Three key first team players were unavailable, but their replacements - Dan Salway, Greg Brown and Tom Ware, all stepped up to the mark. It was pleasing to have Brown back in the second row after struggling for a year with a chronic ailment.

Ware, who usually warms the bench, produced a man of the match performance and Salway snatched the opening try when the ball shot out of a Frampton scrummage close to the line.

Winscombe kicked off with the advantage of both wind and slope and were soon on the attack. This gave the pack an early chance to exert pressure at the scrimmage, resulting in Salway’s try, converted by Steve Pugh.

This same power was in evidence when from six metres out, they pushed the visitors backwards for Will Thomas to claim a pushover try, converted by Pugh. The third try was more spectacular. Howell collected Frampton’s 22 drop-out, shrugged off the tacklers and headed for the line and offloaded for the ball for Ware to touch down.

Pugh’s conversion took the score to 21-0. A fourth try came before half-time when Howell turned the ball over in a tackle to release Callum Stewart to give Pugh a simple walk-in.

Winscombe opened the second half scoring when Dan Fryer sent James Flower away to hand on to Stewart, who launched into an athletic mid-air dive for the corner and remarkably touched down, despite much of his body being the wrong side of the touchline.

Frampton replied with a converted try as they put together a few phases of driving play. Winscombe’s sixth try came when Salway went blind from a ruck 25 metres out to find Ware in support. Simon Thompson took his pass to charge over.

He also scored Winscombe’s sixth try last Saturday against Clevedon, but it was incorrectly attributed in the report to another player.

The next was scored by the improving Jim Rutherford, who spotted a gap in the defence when the ball was quickly recycled and he made the most of it. Stewart added his second to complete the scoring.