Tribute South West One West

North Petherton 44, Bideford 36

NORTH Petherton captain Damian Griffin praised the work rate of his side as they ran out winners in an entertaining contest at Beggars Brook, writes Simon Freeman.

Pethy ran in six tries courtesy of Arron Gibbs (2), Mike Stephens (2), Damian Griffin and Chad Lowrie – and the skipper believes the win will give his side a lot of confidence heading into the derby clash with Bridgwater on January 31.

He said: “We started with high intensity again which we knew would be vital against Bideford, who are a good team. “The forwards and back linked together perfectly and the work rate was shared between everyone which made it a bit easier.

“It really helped with our penalty count being much lower than previous weeks and that was the critical point that made us win - it did slip in the last 20 as we were getting too excited and let them come back in the game, but fair play to Bideford for fighting right to the end, something that we still need to work on.

“But an awesome win in front of another great home crowd – we’re very happy with the team and coaching staff and look forward to building on things for the our next game, the local derby.”

In the 12th minute Arron Gibbs who rounded his man to score in the corner – but Bideford bounced back immediately with a penalty try.

Damian Griffin launched himself to catch the restart, which put Pethy on the front foot - and after a couple of deft passes Gibbs scored again in the opposite corner.

The game took another twist when after a series of short drives Bideford closed the gap to one point with another converted try.

The Pethy players yet again responded positively and moved the ball at speed amongst forwards and backs to stretch the visitors until the official awarded Pethy a penalty on the ten yard line, Roberts extended the lead.

Pethy finished even more positively than they started as a move which started in their half with Jacob Beleski - saw Stevens smartly gathering the bouncing ball to finish off another excellent team try, Roberts converted.

Within two minutes of the restart Pethy secured a turnover in their 22 and within seconds the ball was moved across the pitch to Stevens who sped his way under the posts.

Griffin sprinted in from 45 metres for a fifth Pethy try – but the pressure began to tell on Pethy when a driving maul became difficult to stop and Bideford closed the gap to 39-26.

Pethy began to find more territory and more strong running from Frost, Gibbs and Elisara saw the ball in the hands of Lowrie who scorched over from 45 metres.

Pethy then held out for long periods with some excellent discipline, but eventually Bideford broke through to score two more tries and narrow the gap to 44-36.