Norton welcomed North Petherton for their first home game of the season. The opening half hour was played at a fast pace, making best use of the good conditions, with both sides having a number of scoring opportunities, but the defences of either side held fast. On the half hour mark, North Petherton crossed Norton’s line to gain a 5–0 lead and soon added another three points from a penalty.
With the half-time whistle, Norton were awarded a line-out five metres from the visitor’s line. Fear caught the ball and the pack drove over, allowing Button to score. Taylor added the conversion, kicking from near the touch line.
The home side finished a hard fought half one point behind their opposition, 7–8, but had lost experienced winger, Rowles, to an injury.
Ten minutes into thesecond half, North Petherton extended their lead with a second unconverted try,taking the score to 7–13.
With the pack competing well and the scrummage functioning much better, at times driving their opposition off of the ball, it was a disappointment to have Williams sin-binned, which saw front row replacement, Swift, join the fray earlier than planned. Taylor reduced the points difference to three points from a penalty, unfortunately, North Petherton restored the gap with a penalty of their own. They extended their lead by scoring from a line-out move similar to one the home side had used earlier, that time the referee pulled home Captain, Denning, back for an infringement.
Norton now threw everything in to attack and pressurised the Petherton line in the closing minutes of the game. The home crowd thought their side had scored at the death, but Abbott had the ball stripped from his grasp as he crossed the line.