Rugby - Minety (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Rugby - Minety

Bridport 3pts - Minety 24pts

Continuing their winning run, Minety travelled down to the Dorset coast to beat Bridport for the second time this season.

This was the third league game in a row in which Minety have prevented their opponents from scoring a try, once more restricting the opposition to a single penalty goal while scoring four tries of their own.

In form and confident, Minety started strongly and soon had Bridport under pressure. With the game barely five minutes old, Bridport conceded a lineout some 15 metres from their own line.

Following a familiar plan, the Minety forwards secured their own ball, fed it back to flanker Dave Miller, and then set up a rolling maul. Getting their heads down and shoving, they grunted and shunted the home pack all the way back into their own in-goal area, where Miller duly touched down for the opening try of the game.

Shortly afterwards, Minety scored again. First the forwards gained territory and tied up their opponents' back row with a series of sniping runs and quickly executed rucks, and then the ball was spun wide to the three-quarters, where centre Mark Brown was able to find a gap and race in for a try in the corner.

Flyhalf James Tweedale added the conversion, and then, 10 minutes later, a similar combination move of forwards and backs set up winger Simon Barrett for another try.

The home team managed to score a penalty goal after that, but the half-time whistle saw the teams turning round with Bridport trailing by three points to 17.

Drafted into the backrow when regular number 8 Keith Arrell was held up in traffic and failed to arrive in time for the start of the game, reserve hooker Andy Moran gave an excellent account of himself at flanker, while captain and regular blind-side wing-forward Charlie Gawthropp moved in to take Arrell's place at the back of the scrum until Arrell himself came on the field for the final 20 minutes of the game.

Making his starting debut for the first team, James Stokes played well on the wing, as did second XV regular Ollie Bown, who replaced him for the final quarter of the match. Coming on during the game as substitute for the injured Dave Coughlan, Richard Trevaskis had another impressive game at prop.

Making the most of the sticky conditions, Bridport did their best to frustrate and spoil the visitors' play in the second half. But when their flanker, who had already been warned for persistently going offside, dived into the wrong side of one of Minety's driving mauls and prevented what seemed like a certain score, the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try, which Tweedale promptly converted.

This was the game that sealed Bridport's fate, removing their last chance to avoid relegation to Division 2 South next season. Currently in fifth place in the league, Minety's final position remains uncertain. The teams in the bottom half of the table are so close together that Minety must win their last league game at home against Martock on Saturday 6 April in order to be certain of retaining their place.