Both Minety teams are back in action at home after a blank weekend on the fixture list, Tom Claxton’s 1st XV v. Chippenham while Matt Stone’s 2nd XV take on Supermarine, both kicking off at 2.30pm.
Claxton will be back to lead his 1st XV after missing the disappointing defeat at Trowbridge a fortnight ago and will be looking for nothing less than a win to keep Minety in touch with 4th placed Avonvale, who are 9 points ahead, and the league leaders, Bradford on Avon. If Minety can field a strong team (it’s worth mentioning that injuries and unavailability have necessitated 32 different players being used across the 8 league fixtures this season), there is no reason why they should not put pressure on the top sides in the league. Afterall, league leaders Bradford on Avon have only dropped one point this season, when they failed to register a try bonus point in their narrow home win against … Minety.
Chippenham are currently in 7th place with 2 wins from their 8 league matches, accruing a total of 12 points. But the Chippenham season has been a very “up and down” affair. The first 5 league matches all resulted in losses: 48-0 against Combe Down; 71-19 at Bradford; 22-5 against Avonvale; 22-12 at Trowbridge; and 19-17 against Warminster.
However, since then they have beaten Swindon 51-0 in the Dorset and Wilts KO Cup and then heaped a 111-0 win over the same team in a subsequent league match. Since then they have lost narrowly at Melksham (25-23) and Pewsey (28-26).
In their last match Chippenham narrowly lost to North Dorset II 31-27 in the 2nd round of the D&W KO Cup.
Clearly, they will be dangerous opposition if they play to their potential on Saturday.
Matt Stone’s 2nd XV entertain Supermarine II at Minety Fields on Saturday, kicking off at 2.30pm.
6th placed Minety will hope to get back to winning ways after the 32-14 defeat at 4th placed Bradford a fortnight ago.
9th placed Supermarine have won just once out of 7 league fixtures this season and find themselves 7 points behind Minety.
In their last league match Supermarine were defeated 50-12 at home by Warminster after gaining their first win of the season 23-15 at Devizes. It’s worth noting that Supermarine have scored double figures in all of their league fixtures this season but have conceded 260 points at an average of 37 points per game.
Match reports will be available on the website around lunchtime on Sunday and the film of the 1st XV match should be available on MTV on Wednesday morning.
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