swindon ii 26-35 pewsey vale (22/10/22)

With both teams coming into the game off the back of tough losses the previous week this was always going to be a tight contest.

Pewsey got off to a good start from the kick off and were able to put some phases together in the Swindon 22m creating space out wide, sadly the final pass was unable to find hands and the chance of an early try was missed. However it wasn’t long before the Vale got the first score of the afternoon. Some nice hands from Fly Half Harry Morgan released Pete Baird to offload to Centre, Will Bowerman, who had the pace to break away from the defence and score in the corner. The extras were added by Sam Flippance, 0-7.

Pewsey had to dig deep defensively after the try as Swindon came back strongly and spent a lot of time in the Pewsey half. A knock on when forming a maul allowed Pewsey to clear their lines without any points on the board for Swindon. Pewsey struggled to put together long phases of possession compared with the home side but when they did have ball in hand some devastating runs were creating holes in the Swindon defence. Prop Chris Hill carried hard through the heart of the Swindon defence before a nice offload, from the floor, sent No.8 Phil Vallis under the posts for the second score of the afternoon. Conversion again added by S.Flippance, 0-14.

Swindon again responded well to conceding by camping in the Vale half and playing some solid phases of rugby. An overlap out wide was quickly shutdown by Winger Spencer Hughes who read the situation perfectly to step out of the line and make a thundering tackle to stop the move. Swindon kept coming and from a scrum deep in Pewsey’s 22m they scored to the right of the posts. Conversion added to make the score 7-14.

The two try lead was quickly restored by Pewsey following the kick off. A penalty, following a lineout in the Swindon 22m, was taken quickly by Scrum Half Tom Flippance who was then able to dart through a gap in the defence and score under the posts. Extras added by S.Flippance making the score 7-21 at the interval.

Swindon started the second half the stronger side and were exerting pressure on the Vale pack at scrum time. Following a scrum close to the try line Swindon’s No.8 picked and went for the line, however he was held up following some good defence from the lads. This did result in an injury to Prop Jim Vallis seeing a reshuffle in the Pewsey line-up. The goal line drop out was knocked on, giving Pewsey a short reprieve from defending. Swindon were quickly back into the Pewsey 22m with another scrum. Another strong carry off the base of the scrum from Swindon’s No.8 saw a try scored in the right corner. The conversion was missed, 12-21.

Pressure was immediately applied from the kick off as a strong hit on the kick chase put Swindon on the back foot. Swindon conceded a penalty at the break down just inside their own half. More quick thinking from a penalty saw P.Vallis tap and go quickly, to then run unopposed over the line for his second try. Extras added by S.Flippance, 12-28. The match swung back and forth throughout and this proved to be the case again when Swindon scored shortly after conceding. A scrum for Pewsey 5m from their own line saw the ball ricochet out of the tunnel and roll over the try line. Swindon’s Flanker reacted quickest to dive on the loose ball and score, the conversion was added leaving the score at 19-28.

5 minutes later Pewsey went over for their 5th try of the game. Following a big carry off the top of a lineout, from Hughes, Pewsey were able to play quick ball out wide and make inroads into the Swindon 22m. A short kick through by T.Flippance at the breakdown saw Bowerman get there first, to score his second of the game in the corner. S.Flippance continued his flawless kicking display slotting the conversion, 19-35. With only 5 minutes on the clock Swindon weren’t done yet and made it a tight finish when some nice rugby through the hands led to a score in the corner, conversion added with the score standing at 26-35 with 3 minutes on the clock.

A huge hit from S.Flippance on Swindon’s Second Row from the restart set the tone for the last 3 minutes. Solid defence from Pewsey saw them see out the remainder of the game and bundle Swindon into touch to bring the final whistle, and a bonus point win for the Vale!

A great result for the lads heading into next weekend (29th October). When we finally have a home game following 4 away games on the bounce. We face off against undefeated Marlborough II at the Angela Yeates Memorial Ground so get down there to support the boys.

Team:

1 Hill, 2 Tilley, 3 J.Vallis, 4 Draper, 5 Marshall, 6 Kinderman, 7 Lavis, 8 P.Vallis, 9 T.Flippance, 10 S.Flippance, 11 Hughes, 12 Morgan, 13 Bowerman, 14 Deadman, 15 Baird.

16 Chapman, 17 Talty

Scorers:

Tries – Bowerman (2), P.Vallis (2), T.Flippance

Convs – S.Flippance (5)

Ranger of the Match: Spencer Hughes