The weather had a strong bearing on a tightly-fought game on Saturday, as Norton narrowly lost out to visitors, Old Bristolians. A poor first-half performance looked to have left the home side with little chance of victory, but a superb second half showing saw them battle against the elements to give themselves a chance to nearly snatch the win with the last kick of the match.
The first period saw Norton fail to take advantage of the strong wind at their backs. Too often they found themselves playing rugby in the wrong parts of the field and the visitors gradually took control. This allowed them to score out wide after a concerted period of pressure. Vitally, the conversion was kicked from an almost impossible position, given the howling wind, to give North Bristol an early seven-point lead.
Norton fought back with two penalties from Ben Moon, but that was all they had to show for their efforts and now had to turn round at half-time into the increasingly strong wind.
Things looked bleak in the second period, as the weather deteriorated and the visitors added a further try, despite some strong defence efforts.
From here though, Norton refused to give up and battled back up the slope. Time and again they were thwarted just short of the line, before finally, in the dying moments, the ball was worked wide to centre, Jack Rowles, who streaked over for a score to set-up a tense finish. Sadly, scrum half Moon's kick into a gale force wind fell just short.
The visitors took the win, which left Norton having to settle for a losing bonus point.
Norton know they must improve their start to matches if they are to give themselves the best opportunity to win tight games like these in future. On the plus side, they were able to give a debut to hardworking winger, Chris Harper, and along with fellow replacements, Gareth Williams and Jamie Rose, they added much-needed impetus from the bench.