Gloucester Three

Minchinhampton 14 Cainscross 29

MINCHINHAMPTON, having beaten Cainscross 29-14 in the reverse fixture back in November, slipped to only their second defeat of the season when losing at home to their derby rivals by the same score.

Minchinhampton made the worst possible start, conceding a try in the first minute.

They gave away a penalty from the kick-off due to a player being offside, and Cainscross kicked to the corner .

The subsequent catch and drive failed to yield any points but fly half Jon Stickler executed a brilliant cross-field kick which full back Adam Carter collected before rounding the covering defender.

Minch upped their game from this poor start and it was only fantastic Cainscross defending that prevented them from scoring anything other than two Jake Muskett penalties in the first half.

As the half wore on, Cainscross began to exert their dominance in the scrum, forcing the Minch back row to intervene illegally.

On the stroke of half-time the referee’s patience finally ran out and a penalty try was awarded to Cainscross, converted by Stickler, to give them a 12-6 half-time lead.

Minch began the second half with a little more urgency and this was eventually rewarded with Muskett’s third penalty of the day.

Cainscross raised their game and soon added their third try of the day. Stickler’s long-range penalty attempt hit the post and was taken into contact by the evergreen Dave Maller. Chris Spence was fastest to the breakdown and he counter-rucked brilliantly and forced a mistake by the home team.

Second row Sam Mills pounced on this mistake and was driven over the line from short range.

By this point the scrums had become uncontested, but the Minch back-row’s tendency to put arms in where they shouldn’t be eventually led to Niall Kimber being sent to the bin for the home team.

Cainscross were now pressing for the bonus-point try and soon had their reward.

Jordan Jones, fantastic in the loose all afternoon, made a break through the middle on the halfway line. He passed the ball out wide to Mills who outsprinted the covering defence from 30 yards out; the try was brilliantly converted by Stickler.

Minch did score a fine consolation try from wing Rich Humberstone with five minutes remaining, but by that time the game had been won by Cainscross.

Stickler added a late penalty to secure the 29-14 win.