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DURSLEY UNITED PROVE TO BE A PAIN FOR ‘WICK
May 5th 2010
Dursley United (2nd) team showed a good deal of grit and determination against experienced opponents to lift the Stroud Combination Junior Cup on Sunday 2nd May
An experienced Painswick 2nds outfit gave the young Dursley team plenty to think about but they eventually pulled away in a superb second half performance to win deservedly 28-13.
Playing with the strong wind in the first half, Dursley managed to exert a lot of pressure early on which gave goal-kicking Prop Sam Evans an early 3 points.
Mid-way through the half centre Joe Atkins gathered a loose ball from a line out and ran straight through some poor tackling to set up a strong attacking platform. After some slick handling flanker Ben Powell went in for the try and Evans added the extras for a 10-0 lead.
From the kick-off Painswick enjoyed a rare foray into Dursley territory. Despite the linesman flagging for some foul play, a 5 metre line out led to some close driving play resulting in a try for Painswick.
Dursley responded well – centre Ash Grimes breaking through the middle, and supported by Beswick, Case and Carnaby. A Painswick infringement gave Evans another 3 points and Dursley led 13-5 at half-time, but with the strong wind now in favour of Painswick there was a real worry whether 8 points was enough.
Painswick started the second half the stronger – picking and driving and kicking well with the wind.
After considerable pressure a 5 metre scrum led them to score wide out, closely followed by a penalty for offside in the midfield. Dursley were struggling to break out of their own half against the wind and with the score now at 13-13 things started to look ominous for the maroon and ambers.
But with the more experienced heads in the pack leading the way - Powell, Ben Brinkworth and Mark Perry, the younger players took the game by the scruff of the neck scoring 3 excellent tries to take the game beyond the red and whites.
First great hands across the back line saw wing Mike Beswick outstrip the defence to score wide out.
Then intelligent kicking saw great field position turned into an attacking 5 metre scrum from which No 8 Perry drive through the defence to make it 23-13. Finally, pressure at another scrum caused the ball to pop out, and scrum half TJ Case pounced to make it 28-13.
From then on there was only going to be one winner – despite occasional Painswick pressure, they could not penetrate a determined Dursley defence who were now a team that had learned to master the difficult conditions.
Skipper Dan Gabb, who had led from the front throughout, was full of praise for his team afterwards. ‘We have a great blend of youth and experience in this team, and this is no more then they deserve at the end of a cracking season. The whole squad deserve a mention: Brink worth, Evans, Tom Barton. Gabb, Jordan Booth, Powell, Perry, Carnaby, Case, Tom Pinker, Josh Owen, Grimes, Atkins, Beswick, Matt Bilous, Lorne Ball, Alan Smith, James Hugginson, Ollie Miekle, Tony Powell.
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