Taunton Warriors 36 Nailsea and Backwell 44

The Warriors were in control of the first half even though the opposition had a much larger and dominant scrum.  They benefitted from their control of the play and speed to the breakdown which resulted in Nailsea and Backwell giving away penalties.  After six-minutes eighteen-years old prop picked up the ball on the halfway line and running like a winger he sprinted towards the opposition goal line to be brought down inside the opposition twenty-two, however, number eight Tom Bradner was on hand to open the scoring for the Warriors with a try which Ben Alvis converted to secure a 7-point lead.  Not long after the Warriors were on the charge again but a knock on prevented the try and from the resultant scrum you could see that the Warriors were going to be in a long afternoon with the size and power of the opposition front row.  It was the Warriors who then on twenty-minutes scored the second try.  Ben Alvis sent a deft kick through which the opposition knocked on but Charlie Spurr was on hand to pick up the ball and score.  Just two minutes later and a penalty against the Warriors together with a yellow card allowed Nailsea and Backwell (NB) to kick to the corner, win the lineout and maul the ball over for the try.  36-minutes and the Warriors bench trying to catch the attention of the referee for their yellow carded player to return and NB awarded another penalty from a dominant scrum.  Still the bench cannot get the attention of the referee and he allows the lineout from the penalty and NB go in for their second try. This brings the half to a close with the Warriors having a slender two-point lead.

After only two-minutes of the second half gone the Warriors extended their lead with a well taken try by Oliver Wrelton.  It was then that NB started a “purple patch”  domination and on 50 minutes were rewarded with a well taken try by their full back Joe Reed and with the conversion they were level with the Warriors.  On 57-minutes Warriors conceded the penalty which NB converted giving them a three-point lead. We then saw a superb try by the Warriors with Henry Webb making the breakand with a well-judged outside of the boot kick over the defence Connor Banks picked up on the bounce and scored under the posts.  The referee deemed hewas in front of the kicker and the try was disallowed.  At this level we were not allowed to use the video evidence.  This brought play back and ascrum from which the Warriors conceded the penalty.  NB kicked to the corner, won the lineout and mauled over for the try which was converted. Two-minutes later and the Warriors concede another penalty another kick to the corner and a similar try and a repeat of the situation on 70-minutes.  NB now had 41 points and there was surely no way back until a superb break with10-minutes left on the clock until Prop Harry Love showed the pace of a winger yet again to score, and then for Ben heath to score a try which Ben Alvis dropped the goal for the conversion.  Back they came again from the kick off with Henry Webb exploiting this very tired NB team and suddenly with only three-minutes left the Warriors were within 5-points and running the opposition ragged.  The re-start came and the Warriors conceded a penalty NB kicked the goal and the whistle went for full time.  So close.

This was a very entertaining game and a learning process for the players.  They themselves in their own analysis after the game stated that they need to manage the period which they called the opposition purple patch.  What a superb group of very knowledgeable players who can analyse the situation and then plan to improve.  This week the Warriors are at home to Old Reds and we are unsure of the start time as both the Titans and The Warriors are at home.  So please watch the website for start time.

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