Winscombe recovered from a poort start to register a victory over Taunton in their first match of the season.

Winscombe 26 pts

Taunton 2nd XV 20 pts

TAUNTON were quickly out of the blocks and were 12 points up in as many minutes, but Winscombe regrouped to finish with a bonus-point win.

Taunton’s first try came after only two minutes and the second came soon after from an incisive break by the scrum-half.

Winscombe replied within four minutes when Lewis Podpadec took a quick penalty 30 metres out and Adam Scrase, Will Thomas and Jim Rutherford inter-passed for Thomas to go over.

Winscombe levelled the scores in the second minute of injury time with accurate passing after winning a scrimmage, where they were dominant throughout the match. Owen Howell put Steve Pugh through a gap and when he was tackled, Aaron Ford was in support to send Podpadec over the line. Pugh added the extras.

Winscombe had much more of the game in the second half with the forwards putting some phases together, the backs making some line breaks.

Winscombe took the lead for the first time after 59 minutes when James Flower cut a fine angle to break the line from a solid scrummage eight metres out. Pugh converted.

Taunton replied within two minutes on their first foray of the half into opposition territory with a replica of their opening try.

Winscombe resumed their territorial superiority and in the 70th minute stretched their lead to nine points after Matt Truscott’s tackle turned the ball over to set the front row trio of Simon Thompson, Louis Hooper and Scrase driving forward with Thomas to earn a scrummage put-in 30 metres out. Howell made a break and found Podpadec in support near the line to put Ford over for Pugh to add the extras.

Taunton responded again and were rewarded with three points with three minutes of normal time remaining as Winscombe opened their campaign with a bonus point victory.