Withycombe v Gordano (RFU Senior Vase)

Swindon Trip Beckons for Cup Heroes

Withycombe travel to Swindon College Old Boys on 14th March after dumping Gordano out of the Vase in bruising encounter at Raleigh Park

A confident Gordano side brought two coachloads of supporters down to cheer on the Somerset Premier table toppers, but Withycombe's defence proved to be the key in an attritional Westcountry battle.

Withycombe had the better of the early exchanges and after a missed penalty on three minutes, three collapsed scrums close to the Gordano line had the referee marching under the posts and Withycombe were 7-0 up. The scoreboard wouldn't be troubled for another hour but to say the game lacked action would be well wide of the mark. Withycombe were pinned in their own half for most of the remainder of the half, Gordano's big forwards throwing themselves at the punishing Withycombe defence time and again but to no avail, which seemed to suit man of the match Eugene Badenhorst just fine. The visitors missed a couple of very kickable penalty shots at goal but otherwise created scant scoring opportunities.

The second half picked up where the first left off, with the sticky conditions dictating the style of play. Gordano managed the conditions better than Withycombe on balance but lacked a finishing edge, whilst Withycombe showed flashes of brilliance with the ball which werre all too short-lived as uncharacteristic knock-ons cut short an ambitious offload game. Once the hosts got their heads around the conditions they started to make some inroads. Once Glenn Channing had missed a couple of penalty shots at goal, Withycombe's forwards put the result beyond all likely doubt with a driven try on 70 minutes for Romanian flanker Andrei "The Bison" Toma. The sense of relief was palpable, and perhaps the players took their foot off the gas too soon.

Gordano wasted no time in taking advantage of the relaxed atmosphere by scoring a try in the corner, but the missed conversion left them needing to score twice more in seven minutes to clinch the game. A Channing penalty four minutes later meant that would have to be two tries in two minutes, and although they snatched one, the final whistle went after the missed conversion attempt and Withycombe were through to the South West Divisional Final of the Senior Vase.

Withycombe: Jack Pugsley, Andy Matchett, Dave Passmore, Joe Parkin, Terry Mears, Glenn Channing (2C, 1P), John Parkin, Chris Gibbons, Dave Richards, Liam Cullen, Jon Axon, Tim Wills, Andrei Toma (1T), Eugene Badenhorst, Mike Richards. Reps: Sam Manning, Ben Clark, Connor Gilby, Danny Parry, Kev Rodwell, Will Hockin, Tom Steer.