Gordano Sharks 24 Midsomer Norton 27

Earlier in the season, Norton produced a fine display at home, putting fifty points on Gordano. The return fixture was never going to be so straightforward, and so it proved.

On a heavy pitch and playing against the wind, Norton started brightly, only to concede first. Hard running and organised defence gave Norton a real foothold in the game from that point onwards, with Button crashing over and then Matthew Edgell finished off a move out wide. Edgell scooped the ball off the floor, put in a huge hand-off before making a mockery of a perfectly good technical, and brave tackle as he ran over the unfortunate defender to score a dramatic and terrifying try.

As half-time approached, the pressure was on Gordano’s line once again and Sam Church found a tiny gap to dart over, making the score 5–19. At home, Norton would have expected to pull away with the wind in the second half, but nobody was under the illusion that this was granted against a tough team on their own patch.

The second half saw the home side score first, with their quick scrum half making one of his well-timed sniping breaks. Their two powerful wingers and back row made inroads and they achieved more continuity than in the first period. When Norton were able to get into the home side’s half, they were efficient and Fear scored from a lineout maul before Taylor drove home the advantage with a penalty.

Going into the last ten minutes, the score was 12–27 and the game looked all but won at this point. Gordano had other ideas, however, and took advantage of some slightly daft game management decisions by scoring twice and getting to within three points. Deep into injury time, another fine break from the Gordano scrum half and a couple of neat offloads saw a break for the line that would clinch a remarkable comeback victory, only to be denied by a fantastic covering tackle by Schuster and Taylor. The ball was dislodged, and Norton were able to clear into touch to complete a bonus point win that was more than deserved over the course of the game.

This Saturday sees Matson travel to Norton Down, which promises to be a physical encounter between two excellent sides.