A Cold Morning in Almondsbury

Match report by Kenny Braidwood

Due to the half term holiday Weston took a smaller squad than normal to a cold but dry Almondsbury to face a St Marys team who have yet to lose a match this season.

Although a number of players were asked to play out of their usual position Weston started the game well and were unfortunate to see Andrew Turner held up over the St Marys line after a sustained period of possession by the forwards.

St Marys gradually gained control of the half and went on to score three unconverted tries. Weston were missing tackles at important moments of the half which allowed St Marys to retain good field position. St Marys were also dominant at the breakdown where too often Weston lost what should have been their ball.

Half time St Marys 15 – 0 Weston-super-Mare

The second half went much the same way as the first with the Weston forwards making some good runs but not able to retain the ball long enough to get the ball out to the backs to take advantage of the wide channels.

St Marys scored two more tries in the second half (one of which was converted) both with familiar moves through the backs and getting the ball out wide.

Weston's only score came as the game was in its final quarter and showed what can come from fast ball at the breakdown. Weston worked the ball up through the middle of the pitch with good carries. A series of passes through the line ended with Dom Marshall bursting through tackles to score under the posts. Lewis Paterson scored the straight forward conversion.

The game ended brightly for Weston with good progress in the St Mary’s twenty two via a couple of well worked scrums. However there was not to be any more opportunities to properly threaten the St Mary’s line before the game ended.

This was a good game for newer members of the squad to get plenty of game time. The whole team will have learnt some helpful lessons from the match; especially the need to make good decisions when in possession and the need to put pressure on the opposing team both in attack and defence