Winscombe travelled to Chew Valley and were well beaten, despite some excellent defensive play.

Chew Valley 24 pts

Winscombe 7 pts

CHEW Valley chose to play with the wind at their backs and spent almost the whole of the first quarter in the opposition half.

On the couple of occasions that Winscombe did escape, Chew’s full-back sent the ball back with interest. Steve Pugh and Owen Howell kicked well against the wind and the chase was always good, but Chew kept coming back at them.

The Winscombe defence was tenacious and their line remained intact. Will Thomas, Aaron Ford and Howell were to the fore, but there was a memorable try-saving cover tackle from George House and a concerted effort by Greg Brown and Adam Scrase.

Penalties at the breakdown were conceded in their efforts to defend and Chew went 6-0 up during this period.

The first time Winscombe were able to gain a foothold they came away with a try on 25 minutes. Good play by Howell and Ford was followed by a scissors move between House and James Flower. Chris Aske drove forward and a penalty was won at the breakdown.

The ensuing line-out was won and Dan Fryer and Aske drove through the middle to put House in under the posts. Howell converted. Chew converted their fourth penalty on the stroke of half-time for a 12-7 lead.

After the break, Chew scored a try in the first minute when they turned over the kick-off and sent their powerful No 8 charging through the middle. When eventually stopped, the ball was moved quickly to the left wing for a score in the corner.

Ten minutes later, a similar score came with the turnover from a scrummage. The extras came from an excellent kick from the touchline.

Veteran Andy Ball was now on for Winscombe as they got back into the game with some better drives and good use of the chip and chase. The best chance came after a strong run down the touchline by Simon Thompson but they were unable to score.

With the team jerseys now indistinguishable, Winscombe could hardly get out of their 22 for the final 10 minutes, but were determined not to have their line crossed again.