Gloucester Two

Painswick 19

Minchinhampton 14

THIS Gloucester Two encounter on a freezing Saturday was everything you would expect from a passionate local derby.

The early exchanges indicated it was going to be a close match – and so it proved with Painswick edging it 19-14.

While the hosts had the best of the territory, their fly half controlling field position well throughout the match, there was no quarter given by a determined Minch side.

Skipper Jake Muskett had to leave the field injured after he made a tackle that everyone apart from him will remember. This led to a reshuffle of the Minch backline midway through the first half.

Soon afterwards Painswick made the most of this early pressure to put their left winger away down the narrow side for a score in the corner and a 5-0 lead.

Minchinhampton responded well and soon upped the pace of the game as they threatened the Painswick 22.

Two strong drives from Minchinhampton number eight Matt Jenns and good link-up play from Sam Wainwright and Rich Humberstone led to Painswick conceding a penalty at the scrum.

Opting again for the scrum, Minch’s front row trio of Sean Price, Rich Wood and Lee Phelps drove two further scrums forward earning a clear penalty try and, with Wainwright converting, they led 7-5 at the interval.

Painswick started the second half strongly, again keeping Minchinhampton back in their own half. Despite some great tackling, notably from Brad Gardiner and Ben Jones, a clean break and a couple of close short drives led to a converted try and a 12-7 lead for the hosts.

Minchinhampton worked hard then to get back into the game, being much more clinical at the breakdown and working well to gain field position.

When this was achieved, the same scrum pressure as was demonstrated in the first half produced a series of Painswick infringements and a second penalty try as Minchinhampton led 14-12.

However, Painswick never gave up and produced one well executed move which opened up the Minch defence. This proved to be the last score of the match which ended 19-14 to the home side.

Minch can be pleased with the losing bonus point in a scrappy game and very satisfied with a dominant forward display.