Gordon League II................................19

Minchinhampton Rams........................ 24

WITH swamped pitches reported elsewhere in the county the travelling Rams were pleased to find conditions improving as they arrived at a puddle-free Gordon League, where they enjoyed a well-contested game in muddy conditions.

Despite a strong start from the hosts the Minchinhampton pack soon asserted themselves with their strength at set piece, where they dominated much of the game, and the Rams set about some resolute defence coupled with strong carries from the Huggins brothers, Stuart Cambell, and Dave Maller.

The evergreen Clive Eagles put pressure on the hosts’ fullback with several testing kicks, and handling errors in Gordon’s back line were punished by whippet midfielder Matt Jenns whose pace saw him beat the cover to touch down under the posts, duly converted by Eagles.

Jenns added a second shortly afterwards, unconverted out wide, and a powerful surge from the Rams scrum presented scrum-half Ben Jones a well-taken opportunity before half time, to which Eagles added the two points.

Gordon League regrouped at half time and immediately asserted themselves with a driven lineout close to the Rams line leading to a try, and continued to build their game with a further try shortly afterwards as their strong ball carriers worked hard to break the gain line and eventually crash through under the posts.

A spritely Curtis Taylor led the Rams renaissance with some jinking runs and strong tackling, and Minch regrouped to put Gino Beaumont into a tight space where he beat the covering defence for a well-deserved try in the corner.

The hosts remained strong and recovered with a further converted try, but the Rams dug deep to hold onto their five-point lead at the final whistle.