Norton travelled to Gloucester to play Old Richians for the first time in many seasons, and were welcomed by thunderstorms just before kick-off.
Having started the brighter of the two teams, a lapse in Norton’s concentration allowed the home side to score the first points, with a try in the right-hand corner. Fly half Taylor then put Norton in the lead with two penalty goals.
Norton then lost Jamie Rose due to injury, with a suspected fractured fibula. Luckily, the visit to hospital showed the injury to be less serious. For the second week in a row, the pack had to reorganize.
Taylor kept the score board ticking over with a third penalty, but Old Richians closed the gap again with a penalty of their own. Neither team could take control of the game and the half finished 11–12 in Norton’s favour, having swapped penalties again.
In the second half, Old Richians started to put more pressure on Norton with a strong driving maul from which they eventually scored a converted try.
Norton were the victim of their own mistakes; the lineout faltered and the number of handling errors in the poor conditions was too high. They were also issued three yellow cards in the second half for minor offences. As the game came to a close, it looked like Norton would get that elusive try to win the game, but little mistakes stopped them crossing the line. The team returned from Gloucester with just a disappointing losing bonus point.
On Saturday, the team are at home playing Coney Hill.