After an opening day stroll, Midsomer Norton overcame a much tougher challenge and delivered a performance full of grit and determination to finally overcome a brave showing from a well organised Bristol Telephones team.

Although Norton started brightly, they found themselves a try down early on in unfortunate circumstances. After appearing to steal a line out deep in their own half, the ball bounced unfortunately allowing the Telephones’ number eight to power over from close range.

Norton soon found themselves camped in the opposition 22 for a lengthy period, but finding it harder to create chances than the week before, frustration set in. The home side tried to force things too much and a succession of penalties allowed Bristol Telephones to clear their lines and double their lead.

However, Norton finished the half in the ascendancy when young winger Finn Goudie finished in the corner with the last play of the half. Murphy superbly slotted the conversion from out wide to level the score at 10-7.

However, this did not rattle the newly-promoted Bristol side, who completed last season unbeaten. Telephones added two more tries in the opening twenty minutes, both from penalties given away close to the try line. At this stage Norton were struggling to gain possession of the ball but continued to fight and drag themselves back into the contest.

A period of forward pressure was rewarded when Kemar Active Barrier Stewart took advantage of a huge gap created from an intelligent backs’ move to cross the whitewash. This week he remembered to hold on to the ball and with the conversion added suddenly the lead was cut to three.

The last twenty saw Norton dominate the game but time was running out. Telephones extended their lead to six with a well-taken penalty, but at this stage Norton were in no mood to give up. A passionate performance was rewarded when scrum half Jack Johnson broke from the back of a driving maul to score. Murphy calmly converted and the Seconds finally took the lead for the first time in the match with five minutes to go.

After a draining game the home side remained calm in possession and saw the match out impressively. A late penalty from Murphy drifted wide but knocked valuable seconds off the clock. The restart led to a line out for the home side, and when Knight gleefully booted the ball into the clubhouse, Norton could finally reflect on a hard-fought victory brought about by a spirited team performance.