Whilst many eyes will be focused on Twickenham and the Six Nations, local eyes will be firmly upon the clash at Minety Fields this Saturday where 4th plays 5th in the Dorset and Wilts Division 1 North clash between Minety and Melksham.
The two clubs are embroiled in a scramble for second place in the league and a promotion play off place, league leaders Combe Down now being 16 points ahead and certain for the automatic promotion place.
The chasing pack, comprised of Royal Wootton Bassett (played 15 points 53), Corsham (14 50), Minety (14 49), Melksham (14 48) and, to a lesser extent, Supermarine (16 46) will all be looking to stamp their authority on the end of season run in. This weekend will go some way towards clarifying the situation with second placed Bassett at 1st placed Combe Down whilst Minety and Melksham battle it out at Minety (assuming that the Minety Fields pitches pass an early morning inspection).
Minety’s form has suffered in recent weeks with two consecutive defeats at Trowbridge and Royal Wootton Bassett. The village team has played just 1 home game since 19th December and with no pitch training possible for over two months and a squad weakened by injuries and unavailability (this match has been rescheduled into what was a “free” weekend because of fixture congestion) will have to fight to win against against a Melksham team who have been there or thereabouts throughout the season. When the teams last met, at Melksham in October, the home side ran out narrow 9-6 point winners and since then have lost only to Bassett, Supermarine and the unbeaten Combe Down.
Comments