North Petherton Under-16s 64, Avonmouth Old Boys Under-16s 26

NORTH Petherton Under-16s claimed a good win in the last ever home match of their junior rugby careers.

The Pethy boys were never going to disappoint the crowd, their coaches or themselves at Beggars Brook.

Despite the scoreline, Pethy did not have things all their own way, as Avonmouth were a solid team who were good both at set-piece and in the loose.

The difference was Petherton’s willingness to play an expansive game of 15-man rugby; moving the ball through the hands and keeping the defence on their toes led to tries from six different scorers.

Tries from Ben Jackson, Oli Washer, Will M.S, Oliver Halliday (2), Harry Saunders (2) and Jamie Close (3) tamed the Old Boys, but they did reply with a few of their own, which were well-worked and richly deserved.

Proud coach Andy Redman said: “For their last game, they wanted to show the Pethy faithful just how far they have come in junior rugby.

“I am so proud of everything they have achieved over the years; they have been a pleasure to coach, although I do look forward to getting my Sundays back after 10 years of coaching them!”

Their season has not quite finished, as they have to go away to Keynsham for their final game in junior rugby; their next step is the Colts.

****

NORTH Petherton Under-13s showed their resilience with a depleted side against Keynsham and Taunton, in an entertaining three-way tie.

Pethy were lacking 11 players due to holidays and illness, but still they started well against a strong Taunton team.

A couple of breakaway tries from Taunton saw Pethy heads go down, but towards the end of the game they mounted pressure on the Taunton line, and Jacob Stenson ran onto Bryn Reeves’ grubber kick through to score.

It was the final try of the match, which ended 45-5 to Taunton – who went on to beat Keynsham 35-15.

Pethy’s Mighty Oaks met Keynsham in the last game of the day, and they were soon two tries in arrears.

But this time the floodgates did not open, and captain Ben Giles pulled one back.

Keynsham scored straight after the break, and although Pethy upped their intensity and gained tries from Giles (his second) and Bryce Bedingfield, the game finished 20-15 to Keynsham.

Man of the match went to Nathan Golding, whose outstanding work at the breakdown won him the accolades of many spectators.

Pethy play their last match of the season this coming weekend, at Weston-super-Mare.