Dorset and Wilts Div One North

Colerne 0 Minety 26

MINETY retained their fourth place in the Dorset and Wilts Div One North after a bruising bonus point victory at bottom club Colerne on Saturday.

The game was brought to an end on 65 minutes – with Minety 26-0 ahead– when a Colerne player was stretched out on the pitch with what looked like a serious shoulder injury.

Minety opened the scoring in the ninth minute. After pressure down the right flank, Josh Bull caught the resulting lineout and a 10-man drive saw scrum half Garin Garland race through to score under the posts.

The match was littered with handling errors and only a try-saving tackle from centre Matt Roberts preserved Minety’s lead as Colerne pressed forward.

Minety extended their lead in the 31st minute. Garland spread play to fly half Jack Ward, whose perfectly timed pass set Roberts away. A pass to full back Duncan Simpson and another to the impressive Bull saw the latter score under the posts. Garland converted and Minety were 12 points up.

Tempers flared in the 31st minute and both teams were reduced to 14 after a brawl involving a number of players from both sides.

The home side started the second half strongly and pinned Minety back in their own half but the villagers’ defensive line remained resolute and their dominance at the lineout relieved the pressure.

Captain Andrew Hibberd scored Minety’s third try in the 54th minute, collecting from the lineout and driving through the defence in the corner. Garland’s excellent conversion from distance took the visitors to a comfortable 19-0 lead.

The fourth, and bonus point-winning try, came in the 59th minute when Roberts outpaced the defence to end a fine back line move. Garland’s conversion stretched the lead to 26-0.

The match ended shortly after as medical staff waited for an ambulance to attend to the stricken Colerne player.

After the match, coach Andy Ward said: “It was sad that the match had to end 15 minutes early. Obviously our thoughts are with the injured player.

"We lost our shape as the game progressed, and that is something we’ll have to address on the training pitch before we take on Combe Down, the league champions, in our final game of the season at Minety next week.

"Our set pieces were good but we should have used our width across the line more effectively.”

Captain Andrew Hibberd added: “We played well in patches but overall I felt we were too rushed. We should have taken more time to assess where the mismatches were in their defence and exploited them.”