Of course, our attention was focussed entirely upon our clash with our nearest and dearest and the win, completing a notable double over Bassett this season, was one to savour. It’s certainly worth waiting for the MTV coverage of the match to be published on this site tomorrow to see a real belter of a game. Minety’s win was all the more remarkable because, after kicking down the slope in the first half, Minety were able to shut out Bassett in the second half. Four fine tries brought the added bonus of a “bonus” point but more importantly, the run of losses up to Christmas has now been halted and Andy Grayson and captain Tom Claxton can begin to plot a second half of the season challenge on that top three slot.
Elsewhere, top of the table Combe Down kept up their relentless march on the title with another crushing win, this time by 50 – 0 at Sutton Benger while Avonvale in second place easily overcame Calne. Third place Melksham, whose impressive pre Christmas run included a last gasp victory over Minety, were again winners against bottom of the table Supermarine, who Minety entertain at Minety Fields next weekend.
4th placed Warminster enjoyed a high scoring win over a resurgent Pewsey while 5th place Trwobridge defeated Chippenham in a close run match. In effect, all of the top half of the table teams, with the exception of Bassett, won while all of the bottom half of the table teams, with the notable exception of Minety, lost.
A win next week against basement side Supermarine will do Minety no harm, especially since 5th placed Trowbridge travel to Combe Down and 6th placed Bassett travel to 4th placed Warminster.
The match between Minety and Combe Down in Division 3 goes down in the records as an Away Walk Over, but that doesn’t quite tell the story of a dramatic 30 minutes of rugby at Minety Fields on Saturday. Steve Wilson’s team started the match under strength in numbers and when a disagreement on the field involving several players from both sides resulted in both teams being reduced further by two yellow cards aside, Minety were down to the bare minimum required to compete in a match. When a further Minety player was injured and had to leave the pitch the referee declared the match over, with Combe Down pocketing maximum points. It is worth clarifying that Minety will not be docked any points because of tthe AWO result.
Elsewhere, runaway leaders Amesbury were not involved and Combe Down were able to close the gap at the top. Warminster surprisingly dropped points in a home draw with lowly Melksham while Swindon overcame Bardford in an epic 44-43 match.
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