For the second time within a week, there was a large crowd to watch Norton RFC – this time at home at Norton Down. The normal Saturday crowd was bolstered by a large number of former players, who had attended a pre-match luncheon.

Norton started the game against Newent well and scored the first points through a penalty by Taylor. The two sides then scored a try apiece, with Scott Anderson scoring Norton’s after a concerted forward drive.

At half-time the score was very close at 8–13. The second half’s combination of Newent’s big strong running backs and Norton’s fatigue following Wednesday night’s match at the Rec allowed the visitors to take a twenty point lead early in the second half. But as in all games this season, the Norton team did not give up and the forwards started to take control of the possession again.

In one of the hard-fought forward exchanges, a Newent player received a red card for slapping the face of the Norton Captain, following an exchange of words. While their opposition was a man down, Norton scored a second try through Jamie Rose. Shaking off the tiredness and injuries collected in the hard ground over the two games, the home side finished the game very strongly.

Norton were unable to reduce the deficit after turning the ball over deep in their own territory, they kicked the ball deep into the opposition’s 22m area. Disappointingly, having recovered the ball, the final pass went to ground. Newent kicked a penalty in the final seconds of the match to take the final score to 13–31.

This was the end of a very hard season for the team, who were playing at the highest level the club has ever reached in its history. Next season will allow the team to consolidate and plan for the future, now knowing what needs to improve to compete at this level, competing against some semi-pro teams.

The club must also say a big thank you to Tom Lovell, who has coached the club for the last few seasons – getting them into this strong position. Tom is an ex-Norton player, having represented the club at Youth and Senior level, but is moving out of the area with work commitments – he will be sorely missed.