Both Minety teams will be at home on Saturday 21st October and the village squad is under no doubts that these will be testing fixtures.
Tom Claxton’s 1st XV will entertain league leaders Combe Down. The visitors arrive at Minety Fields joint top of the Dorset and Wilts Division 1 North having won all 4 of their matches this season. The champions of the league in 2015, Combe Down found life hard in the upper division last year and were relegated in April. Thw on their first match of the season at Chippenham by 48-0 and since then have defeated Swindon (81-3) and Melksham (53-7) before being awarded the match against Pewsey Vale when the visitors were unable to field a team.
With form such as this Claxton’s team will have to be on top form and will need a strong lineup. “We had to concede our cup match at Dorchester last weekend because we simply didn’t have enough fit or available forwards. Injuries have hit us hard this season. I know that there’s been a lot of talk about increased levels of injury in the professional code and some suggestion that the recent changes to the laws may have contributed. It may be that that effect is rippling down to the amateur game. We know that Combe Down will be all out to beat us on Saturday – we inflicted one of only two defeats on them during their championship winning year.”
Matt Stone’s 2nd XV take on Swindon III. They sit 5th in the table, four places above Minety in Dorset and Wilts Division 3 North having won 2 and lost 2 matches this season. They started the season badly with a heavy home dfeeat at the hands of Warminster but then overcame local rival Supermarine away from home. A heavy home defeat to Corsham in Match week 3 was then evened out by a 28-22 win at Devizes.
Both matches kick off at 3pm. The bar in the clubhouse will be open before and after the game. All supporters welcomed!
Comments