Gloucester Two

Westbury-on-Severn 22

Minchinhampton 14

TWO tries from centre Tom Goulding were not enough to get Minch over the line in this Gloucester Two clash with Westbury-on-Severn.

Despite scoring first after some fine work by the pack, Minch struggled to gain any control of the ball. Scrums were again a strength and the defence was sound against a determined home side.

However, indiscipline resulted in field position being hard to gain and eventually Westbury scored through some close drives to take a 10-7 half-time lead.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with Westbury extending their lead (15-7) after repeated attritional play close to the breakdown.

However, it was an inspired Goulding who read a loose pass to intercept and bring Minch back into the game at 15-14.

A resurgent Minch then finally managed to get on the attack and fly half Wainwright was unlucky with a drop goal attempt that drifted just wide. From the resulting drop-out, Westbury capitalised on an error to run away and score, securing the game.

Overall, so near and yet so far for a committed Minchinhampton, who were also denied a losing bonus point with the final kick of the match, as the Westbury conversion went over.