THIS pre-season friendly between two of the sides relegated from National Three South-West last season was a scrappy affair, and with both sides lacking strength in the front row they agreed to 'take it easy' in scrimmages, writes Tony Pomeroy.
The game was played in four 20 minute sessions with unlimited use of substitutions - Bridgwater had ten whilst Newbury had only two.
The home side dominated the first quarter but only scored one try, when Rob Allen latched on to a loose ball on halfway and scored under the posts.
Debutant fly half Rhys Owens converted but Newbury equalised, somewhat against the run of play, on the stroke of half time.
Mid-way through the second session the visitors took the lead with a good try, but Bridgwater hung on at 12-14 after an unconverted try for replacement Matt Ruddle.
After that it was all Newbury as Bridgwater rang the changes giving game time to all their players.
The visitors ran in three tries against a leaky home defence to take a 12-33 lead into the final quarter.
Bridgwater controlled the last session and two replacements, Matt House and Nick Spellissi combined for the latter to score near the posts. House narrowly missed the conversion.
Just before the final whistle, Ollie Dunn got a good individual try for the home side but Dominic Griffin's drop kick conversion attempt from in front of the posts barely left the ground leaving the final score 22-33 and revenge for Newbury for their league defeat on this ground last season.
THE club is always on the lookout for new players. Any prospective players are invited to attend training at the club on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 7pm or contact head coach Kevin Innalls, (pictured), on 07976-957936.
ON Saturday (August 25), Bridgwater visit Hornets in Weston for another friendly game before hosting Cullompton in the first league match a week later.
Bridgwater starting XV : Nick Francis, Toby Payne*, Rob Allen, Garryn Basson, Ashley Pippard, Rhys Owens*, Dominic Griffin, Phil Triggol, Matt House, Shaun Lloyd*, Matt Northey, Doug Page-Symonds, Luke de Silva*, Ollie Dunn, Dan Kemmish (C). *Indicates a new player this season
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