Dursley 1st XV 15 Brockworth 12

DURSLEY went into this Gloucestershire Division Two league match two places below Brockworth and needing to win to keep clear of the relegation zone.

With the brisk wind at their backs, Dursley started strongly with forwards and backs working well to set up good field positions within the Brockworth 22. With the Dursley lineout going well through the efforts of Niblett and Dakin this pressure was quickly turned into points.

Despite missing an early penalty kick at goal, Dursley scored a well-worked try after moving the ball from right to left and then back again, going through the phases and making good ground.

After being brought down short of the line, a short and well-timed pass to Ian Brown saw the hooker crash over for a well-deserved score.

From the kick-off, the home side soon got back into the opposition's half. 17-year-old Ed Batty, in his first appearance in a league match after progressing through the junior ranks at the club, showed good composure with long raking touch-finders, which allowed Dursley to keep the pressure on.

The Dursley scrum was also going well, with veteran props Mark Smith and Chris Sheldon keeping things going forward. From just such a platform a neat switch in midfield to wing Luke Small saw him carve up the middle of the park, before moving the ball to centre Steve Eggleton who showed an excellent turn of pace to score near the posts. Batty converted for a well-deserved lead of 12-0.

So far, so good for Dursley. Brockworth, however, had other ideas and, having failed to make up any ground through the backs, they started to grind up front.

Despite the excellent tackling of the Dursley back row of Perry, Davies and Scott, the pressure told and Brockworth worked the ball free to scramble over in the corner to produce a half-time score of 12-5.

The second half saw Dursley concede ground through a combination of errors, poor discipline and 50-50 decisions going against them. Despite stringing together good passages of play, nurtured by half-backs Lister and Chant, the final pass would often go astray allowing Brockworth to use the wind to clear their lines.

From just such an event play raced back to the Dursley 22, allowing the visitors to score a soft try and conversion to level the scores.

The large crowd of spectators knew that the next score would be crucial, but for the next 20 minutes the teams remained in deadlock, with play constantly interrupted by Brockworth players being injured and receiving extensive treatment from their physio.

With the light failing, another promising Dursley attack was foiled by Brockworth's lateness in retiring, with a tricky penalty being awarded wide of the posts with four minutes to go.

Batty showed cool nerves to kick the crucial goal, and Dursley defended well for the remainder of the match to deservedly win the tie 15-12.

With two further league matches to come in January this was an important result for the team. The next two weeks see Dursley 2nds at home, with the firsts next in action at Stinchcombe on Saturday, January 29, against Gloucester Civil Service. The matches kick-off at 2.30pm and all support is welcome.