Gloucester Premier - Aretians 10 Painswick 3.

PAINSWICK travelled to Bristol to play Aretians on Saturday, and put in a committed display and were unfortunate not to come away with a result in this Gloucestershire Premier League clash.

The home side had the first use of the elements but it was Painswick who started strongly, with winger James Wynn and second-row Matt Iles both being tackled just short of the try-line.

Aretians opened the scoring when their winger scored a try in the corner midway through the half, Painswick responded when fly-half Dominic Barnard slotted over a penalty when the home side strayed offside.

With half-time approaching Aretians increased their lead with a catch and drive at a lineout with their flanker crashing over to score a try, to leave them leading 10-3 at the interval.

In the second half Painswick had plenty of possession and had their opponents pinned in their own half for long periods, but basic mistakes and some strange refereeing decisions cost them dear.

Number eight Rob Andrew crashed over for a try but he was adjudged to have put a foot in touch. With the last play of the match Wynn was tackled just short of the try-line once again to leave Painswick empty-handed and very frustrated that they hadn't won.

For Painswick the forwards put in a sterling effort against a larger pack, with the front-row of Ben Pollard, Tom Russell and Ben Wyatt once again in fine form, second-row Matt Iles and Tim Friend scoring good lineout ball while the loose forwards of Chris Hall, Matt Coombs and Andrew were winning plenty of ball.

Behind the pack centres Ewan Craig and Will Leicester defended well.

Painswick United 5 Stow 2nds 19.

THE United came up against a big Stow second string on Saturday, but they dominated the set-pieces after shunting their bigger opponents backwards at a rate of knots.

Centre John Sangiovanni scored the United's try, his second in successive matches, before he had to leave the action early due to an injury, shortly followed by skipper Julian Mitchell and flanker Graham Ponting, both suffering from leg injuries.

With no replacements they finished the game with only 12 players and the visitors took advantage and scored three tries, two of which were converted to give them the victory.

*Fixture for Saturday (November 18): Painswick United v Old Centralians (away, meet 1pm, kick-off 2.30pm).

Team selected after training on Tuesday evening. Any problems please contact Kev Harris on 07701024018 or Julian Mitchell on 07747600764.