Gloucestershire Premier League
Matson 10pts Drybrook 3pts
Drybrook put in their worst performance of
the season to fall to an unexpected defeat
at lowly Matson.
Given
first use of the Redwell Road slope Drybrook
struggled to make any impact despite a good
amount of possession.
All
too often the Drybrook forwards carried the
ball too far and did not give the backs
enough opportunities to attack the home
line.
On the
few occasions that Drybrook did attempt to
move the ball wide the ball carrier was
often isolated and Matson were able to
achieve a considerable amount of turnover
ball.
It
took Drybrook until the 35th
minute before they finally opened their
account with an Aaron Ryder penalty but it
was about all they deserved from a poor
first half showing.
Things
didn’t get any better after the break and
Drybrook were soon down to 14 men when
hooker Chris Thomas was sent to the sin bin.
Drybrook struggled during this period and
Matson drew level with a penalty after they
had caused a lot of disruption to the
visitor’s scrum.
Back
up to full strength Drybrook rang the
changes in an effort to improve their
performance but although they fared better
in the forward exchanges they looked
disjointed elsewhere and eventually paid the
penalty.
With
10 minutes remaining a couple of handling
errors led to Drybrook being pinned in their
own 22 metre area. A player again became
isolated trying to run out of defence and
Matson took advantage to move the ball wide
for the only try of the game.
In the
last minutes Drybrook had their best chance
when winger Dave Hartwell was eventually
given the ball in space. He managed to beat
4 defenders before he was tackled short of
the line but with no support the chance was
lost and with it went any hope Drybrook had
of rescuing a point.
Drybrook team; C. Rawlings, D. Hartwell,
D. Griffiths, S. Rugman, J. Roberts, A.
Ryder, C. Moore, L. Phelps, C.Thomas, S.
Phelps, J. Hillcoat, J. Duffin, L. Jackson,
D. Price, N. Morgan. Substitutes; S.
Skelton, S. Ballinger, Dean Large.