3:05pm Wednesday 24th February 2010
Somerset Cup Semi-Final
Taunton 10, Bridgwater and Albion 7
By Tony Pomeroy
THIS was good old-fashioned rugby played on a ground more akin to a paddy field.
Although both teams changed shirts at half time, for most of the game it was impossible to distinguish between them.
It is perhaps worthy of note that Taunton, wearing their white change strip for the first half, scored all their points in this period while Bridgwater, wearing their white change strip in the second half, scored all their points during this time.
Short of a miracle new washing powder, I cannot see either side wearing pristine white again this season.
Particularly towards the end of the game, it became very difficult to make out the action on the other side of the field. As players congregated for set and loose pieces clouds of steam rose from them like an all-enveloping fog giving the game a somewhat eerie feel.
Conditions underfoot were so bad that the game was in danger of never starting and inevitably it deteriorated into a forward slog.
The early moments gave the best chance of running rugby. One exquisite chip by home fly-half, Jon Martin, was cleanly taken by winger Ben Rudkin, but he could not escape the Bridgwater cover.
When centre Simon Martin was short with a 35-metre penalty attempt, Bridgwater knocked on behind their own line to give Taunton hope. However, the defence held out.
The next half hour saw both sides have chances, only to fail to score. After 26 minutes, Bridgwater unaccountably tried to run the ball from deep in their own 22 – not the tactics given the ground conditions. A tackle was made on the 22, Bridgwater were penalised and Saunders landed the penalty.
Five minutes later, following an incident that saw Bridgwater’s Carl Brown sent to the sin bin, Saunders missed an easy penalty from 25-metre in front of the posts.
The drop out on the 22 went long and Taunton returned the ball high into the Bridgwater 22. It was caught cleanly and passed inside to Will Webster. He was tackled before he could get in a clearing kick, Ross Ward ripped the ball in the tackle and, to the delight of the home crowd, galloped the 20-metre to the line. Saunders converted for a 10-0 half time lead.
Bridgwater started the second half well even with Carl Brown’s so called ten minutes in the sin bin being unaccountably extended by two and a half minutes.
The forwards put in one massive 60-metre drive before Taunton gained relief with a penalty.
Minutes later, a second superb 40-metre forward drive saw Taunton, now down to 14 men with replacement prop Chris Phillips in the bin, concede a series of penalties near their own line followed inevitably by the award of a penalty try to Bridgwater, converted by Charlton.
Bridgwater were now on top and their pack continued to rule.
There was one scare when a relieving kick in the 22 by Dominik Griffin was charged down but Jake Childs reacted quickest and minored the ball to avert the danger.
Saunders had one more penalty chance as Taunton came back into the game in the final ten minutes, but pushed it wide.
Bridgwater could not quite manage another score and it was a relieved Taunton side that heard the final whistle.
Bridgwater will have been encouraged by this performance, even without the cup-tied Matt Hastie and Gavin Hancock. Given the difficulty in identifying players it would be invidious to single out individuals. Suffice it to say that everyone played their part and gave Taunton, who have been unbeaten for almost two years, quite a scare. To be fair, Taunton just about deserved their win, but it was a very close call.
Scorers:
Taunton
Try: Ward
Con: Saunders
Pen: Saunders
Bridgwater & Albion
Try: Penalty try
Con: Charlton
Bridgwater and Albion team: Will Webster, Damian Griffin, Jake Childs, James Stark, Sam Showering, Dominik Griffin, Roger Drabble, Wayne Stiling, Chey Bryce, James Bryant, Ali Blundell, Steve Hunt (Capt), Dan Kemmish, Carl Brown, Greg Charlton
Reps not used: Dave Norman, Damian Marsh, Matt Northey, Matt House, Jack Kohler, Steve Ward
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