Dorset & Wilts One North

Chippenham II 12

Minety 15

IN FREEZING conditions, Minety emerged victorious in their Dorset and Wilts Division One North clash with Chippenham's 2nd XV by 15-12 thanks to first-half tries from flanker Josh Bull and scrum half Jack Ward, writes Graham Cooke.

Minety welcomed back hooker Tom Claxton, scrum half Ward and full back Ben Langridge from injuries.

Assistant coach Craig Smith must have been delighted with the outcome of the early exchanges; the Minety defensive line looked to be well organised and dealt with all that Chippenham could throw at them while the forwards made good use of the ball to set up plays in the backs.

The visitors took the lead in the fifth minute. A strong attack down the right wing set up two rucks and Ward, spotting Bull unmarked, fed the flanker who crossed for an unopposed try.

Chippenham hit back in the 14th minute when a fine move across the pitch found the defence outnumbered and Chippenham’s centre broke through to score. The resulting long-range conversion was successful and Chippenham moved into a two-point lead.

With the biting cold and gusting wind making handling almost impossible, both teams resorted to kicking, with Tom McAllister and Ward pushing Chippenham back towards their line.

Minety struck for the second time in the 23rd minute when Ward burst through the Chippenham defence to score near the posts.

McAllister’s conversion was successful and Minety were 12-7 up.

Minety enjoyed a period of sustained pressure in the Chippenham half with brothers Tom and Ash Windle proving difficult to handle. When the home side were penalised in a ruck, McAllister slotted home a penalty to extend the lead to 15-7.

Chippenham were reduced to 14 men in the 59th minute, a forward being sin-binned for a high tackle on McAllister, but the number imbalance seemed only to spur them on.

After Chippenham set up a series of rucks, the visitors’ defence was breached and the home side scored their second try.

The last 20 minutes were largely played out in Minety’s half as Chippenham pressed for a game-winning score but the villagers tackled brilliantly and defended their line to the final whistle.

Captain Andrew Hibbard said: “Perhaps the hammering that we took at home a few weeks ago at the hands of Bradford-on-Avon did us good. Since then we’ve put in two brilliant performances away from home, with a team made up of a mixture of 1st and 2nd XV players.

"They all gave everything out there in very difficult conditions and I’m proud of them.”

The win lifts Minety above Royal Wootton Bassett into sixth place in the table.

The team were pleased to see injured flanker Rob Hinwood after the game. Rob took a fearful blow in the win over Frome last week and suffered a double fracture of the jaw.

Last week Rob spent 10 hours in A&E, visited two different hospitals, had four X-rays, one operation and now has four titanium plates to hold his jaw together. Rugby players are tough!