MINCHINHAMPTON took their winning streak to five games at Bristol Telephones as they finished 2013 in style.

Friendly

Bristol Telephones 19

Minchinhampton 50

Minch settled a lot quicker than their hosts in the difficult conditions (sodden pitch and very windy).

Muskett and Hester, in particular, used the boot well, keeping Telephones on the back foot. Following a sweeping move from left to right Beaumont found himself 15 metres out with just the winger to beat. Using years of experience and an impressive turn of pace, he finished in the corner.

Hester then used some footwork that wouldn't have looked out of place on Strictly to finish off the second try in the corner.

Swift handling in the backs resulted in another team score through Beltrami. Not long after the re-start, captain Matt Austin took a well-timed interception, passed to Langford who used his strength to break through and score under the posts.

With 30 minutes on the clock, Hester again danced through the defence to score.

Minch soaked up some robust attacking from Telephones but stout defence eventually led to Rosser-Smith pinching one at the breakdown and leading the charge up field, with Minch scoring again after strong running from winger Sam Pyzer.

To finish the half all the party tricks came out, Muskett placing his kick directly to the foot of the posts for Beltrami to touch down.

The 43-0 half-time lead flattered Minch but with the wind against them in the second half they immediately came under a Telephones assault.

Pinning Minch back in their 22, Telephones soon scored twice. Resolute defence, Beaumont’s unscripted heading skills and knock-ons kept the hosts out, but eventually the pressure told and with 20 minutes left Telephones got their third try.

The Minch defence held firm, however, and Telephones got frustrated losing two players to the sin-bin. With Minch back on the attack, Hester completed his hat-trick to take the man-of-the-match award.

Captain Austin said: "I couldn't have been happier with the end of 2013. We're scoring lots of points and conceding few.

"We'll go into 2014 positive and hope to continue the good work, both Minchinhampton sides are playing some excellent stuff at the moment. Long may it continue."