MIDSOMER NORTON 26 BARTON HILL 17

Conditions for rugby were pretty much perfect on Saturday as Norton hosted Barton Hill; warm, slightly overcast and very little wind. The early exchanges saw both sides’ committed defensive work prevent attacking continuity, and when there was a line-break, the final pass failed to go to hand.

The deadlock was broken in dramatic style. Norton had a scrum deep in their own 22, and were in the process of executing an exit strategy when Ben Taylor went off-script and made a clean break through the centre.

Looking left and right for support, the ball found its way to Schuster, who somehow managed to pick it off his laces whilst completing a somersault before linking up with Jeffery in support, who stepped two players to score under the posts for a converted try.

Superior firepower in terms of ball-carrying, combined with clever, tactical kicking from James Abbott’s left boot, put Barton Hill under pressure, and from a patient, driving maul, the pressure told and Tom Clark scored. Barton Hill hit back before half-time to make it 14-7.

Barton Hill started the second period strong and were dominant in collisions. Norton’s Coach, Blackmore, was regretting a decision from a few years ago where he converted David Wright from a winger into outside-centre at Bristol Saracens. Now playing for Barton Hill alongside his brother, Mike, he ran a good line and jinked his way over in familiar fashion for an unconverted try.

Unlike in the Avonmouth game two weeks previous, Norton were able to strangle the momentum back by not compounding their mistakes and upping the intensity, helped by a strong bench. Mitch Rose scored with a powerful finish running through and over the fly-half to increase the lead, and Luke Murphy rounded off the scoring with an unconverted try in the right-hand corner.

The game finished with a few confrontations, resulting in one yellow card for each team. Alex Mitchard was clearly cheating and stopping the ball coming out, and a Barts player decided to play the bongos on his shiny dome until he got bored. Both were unhurt and seemed delighted to have the last five minutes off! A late try for the visitors brought the game closer, but it ended in a 26-17 bonus-point victory for Midsomer Norton.