Bristol Saracens RFC 17 Midsomer Norton RFC 27

Norton won the toss and chose to play up the slope and into the strong wind in the first half. A positive start with strong ball carrying put pressure on Saracens’ defence early on, but it was the home side who scored first, when centre, Werret, found the space open up from a simple scissors in midfield before good continuity resulted in Will Harding touching down in the corner. Minutes later, Werret handed off and shimmied inside again to score himself, leaving the home side 10–0 up after another missed conversion.

In dire need of inspiration to get back on track, Norton were lucky to have Luke Murphy on hand. Gliding with the ball in two hands, seeing non-existent imaginary gaps in the defence and then somehow ghosting through, then finding Clark in support who passed back to Murphy, who scored a typical ridiculous try. Taylor converted before Murphy decided to repeat the trick from closer in to make the score 10–12.

Bristol Saracens managed to pull one score back in the second half, but Norton asserted themselves more effectively and scored a further two tries. Some fine handling and support play resulted in Schuster scoring in the corner. Connor had a superb game, both in defence and attack,providing the team with energy and confidence. The final try came from a series of powerful phases and Matthew Denning, back following an ankle injury, threaded the ball to James Abbott, who cut a great line to score under the posts.

Bristol Saracens are much improved from their early season form and they put in a great shift in an attempt to score a bonus point try at the end of the game, but Midsomer Norton’s improved second half defence held firm.