Tribute South West One West

Wadebridge Camels 8, Bridgwater & Albion 20

BRIDGWATER & Albion secured their first away win of the season with a 20-8 victory over Wadebridge on Saturday, writes Tony Pomeroy.

Tries from Nick Spellissy and Simon Martin together with 12 points from the boot of Stuart Heal - including two drop goals - sent Albion home with four points in the bag.

The first half provided eminently forgettable - Wadebridge had much of the possession but elected to pick and drive all the time and were inevitably repulsed by a resolute Bridgwater defence.

A great move then followed between Drabble, Francis and Spellissy took play almost half the length of the field, but as Francis was put clear to score, the referee adjudged the final pass to be forward.

In the final minutes of the half, Heal became a Jeckyl and Hyde figure - First, he landed a snap dropped goal to give Bridgwater the lead, before having a kick charged down.

Wadebridge poured through and Heal compounded his error by going offside at the resulting ruck to allow replacement Jamie Taylor to land an easy equalising penalty to leave the half time score 3-3.

Albion eventually registered their first try of the afternoon when replacement Simon Martin evaded the home defence to cross in the corner - Heal converted with a magnificent kick.

The second came soon after as Nick Spellissy scooped up a loose ball to charge in from 25 metres out.

In the final quarter, Bridgwater should perhaps have scored again from a great break by Drabble, but his pass was delayed too long and the chance was lost.

Bridgwater had to be content with a second dropped goal from Heal that just scraped over the bar.

In the final minutes, Wadebridge turned on their best rugby of the game.

They were denied one try by a forward pass and approaching injury time, managed a try from Mark Grubb as the forward pressure eventually told.

Deep into injury time, Bridgwater thought they had scored again when Rob Allen crossed in the corner.

However, the referee seemed unsighted and did not award the try.

It mattered not in the final scheme of things as the final whistle saw Bridgwater comfortable winners by 8-20.

Bridgwater have another trip to Cornwall next Saturday (December 14), as they face Camborne.

Bridgwater Team : Jon Hill (rep Simon Martin h/t), Joel Clark, Rob Allen, Will Kerry (rep Jon Hill 79), Nick Francis, Stu Heal, Roger Drabble, Gary Saunders ( rep Matt Hastie 19), Lovejoy Chawatama, James Bryant (rep Gary Saunders h/t), Dan Kemmish (Capt), Doug Page-Symonds (rep Matt Northey 54), Nick Spellissy, Ollie Dunn, Tayler Buller (rep Doug Page-Symonds 73)

Referee : Kevin Williams (Cornwall Referees Society)