Round-up of the grassroots rugby action – Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th March.
Walcot, black, and Salisbury get shirty during the Counties 1 Tribute Ale Southern South match on Saturday 7th March | Photo © Jon Taylor
Walcot came out on top in their crucial Counties 1 Tribute Ale Southern South match with Salisbury on Saturday 7th March – but still lost the league leadership to Sherborne.
The men from Albert Field started the day in pole position. And they beat third-placed Salisbury 15-5.
However, the Dorset All Blacks edged into first place on points difference by overcoming visitors Trowbridge 2nd XV 64-0.
Sherb’s points-difference advantage is effectively another point in the standings, as it is a whopping 259 better than Walcot’s.
Walcot, black, take on Salisbury at Albert Field on Saturday 7th March in Counties 1 Tribute Ale Southern South | Photo © Jon Taylor
With no matches scheduled in the division this weekend, the Walcot versus Sherborne clash in Lansdown on Saturday 21st March is almost a winner-takes-all top-of-the-table tussle.
There will be only four rounds of matches to go after that big battle, so neither side can afford to slip up as they chase the championship.
However, the Black & Whites might still be at the summit had a 65th-minute incident during the game with Salisbury panned out differently.
As Walcot pushed for the bonus-point try, a visiting player slapped down a pass two metres from his own line. Referee Lee Jackson, who had an excellent afternoon, sin-binned the offender but adjudged that a penalty try was not forthcoming as there were defenders available to repel the attack.
Both sides made a tentative start to the match. Play ebbed and flowed for the first 20 minutes until Gabe Moore broke the deadlock by scoring out wide after chasing and gathering his own kick.
Scrums and lie-outs went with the team putting the ball in. And not much separated the sides in open play although Walcot did pose problems when they moved the ball wide.
A Walcot player attempts to shrug off a tackle during the 15-5 home win over Salisbury on Saturday 7th March | Photo © Jon Taylor
Alex Barnsley scored the hosts’ second try, in the 24th minute, but Salisbury got onto the board with a touchdown four minutes later, this from a well-organised catch and drive.
A clash of heads just before half-time saw Walcot hooker Ieuan Watkins leave the pitch along with winger Kenzie Rawlings.
The second half continued in the same attritional and abrasive manner as the first.
The last points of the day were added by Moore out wide and up the slope, this try coming after a long, looping pass from Jonah Edwards.
At the final whistle, Walcot were very happy to take a four-point win against a side they felt could have snatched the lead at any time.
Avon completed a Counties 2 Tribute Ale Somerset double over neighbours Oldfield Old Boys by winning 24-14 at Shaft Road on 7th March.
The first 30 minutes proved a very stop-start affair, littered with mistakes, handling errors, wrong options and too many penalties as the defences held sway.
Eventually, Avon’s forward power was rewarded as a massive scrum surge near the posts saw Ben Hurd touch down the pushover try. Rob Fitch converted.
After withstanding an Oldfield attack deep inside the visitors’ 22, Fitch made the home side suffer from conceding two penalties, with two massive touch-finders taking play to the other end of the field. Clean line-out possession from Rhys van den Handel was transferred smoothly to the back of the rolling maul where Hurd made no mistake with his second try.
With the last play of the first period, one of the Oldfield centres cut a good line from halfway to score a fine individual try under the posts, the conversion leaving the score 12-7 to Avon at the break.
Welcoming back Josh Hiscott and Adam Hinchcliffe-Walz to the second row, Avon’s pack again exploited their superiority as a monstrous line-out drive powered over the try-line for Hurd to complete his hat-trick with his 11th touchdown of the season.
Avon suffered a double blow when scrum-half Kiddie Sheikh was carried off and then his replacement Ollie Flight suffered a similar fate 10 minutes later.
Iain Parris showed his versatility with a cameo performance at scrum-half on his 140th 1st XV appearance. And powerful runs from Zak Harwood were only thwarted by good Oldfield tackling.
Eventually there was only one outcome when Avon launched another powerful drive towards the line, forcing Oldfield to illegally collapse the maul. That left the referee with no alternative but to award a penalty try and show a yellow card to the offender.
As the match entered its closing stages, Avon relaxed in defence. That allowed Oldfield to add a late consolation try, a chip and chase leading to a touchdown near the posts. The conversion completed the scoring.
Combe Down drubbed struggling hosts Melksham 2nd XV 109-14 on 7th March to maintain their charge towards the Counties 2 Tribute Ale Dorset & Wilts North title and an immediate return to Southern South after relegation last year.
With five rounds of games to go, Combe lead the way by 12 points from second-placed Westbury.
Oldfield Old Boys 2nd XV pipped hosts Walcot 2nd XV in their Counties 4 Tribute Ale Somerset North derby on 7th March.
A last-minute penalty ensured Oldfield won a closely fought game 22-19.
Jordan Wickens scored the Black & Whites’ first try and the returning Alex Stephenson, playing his first game for several seasons, notched their second score.
Walcot’s third and final try came from Tom Mitchell.
The home side’s stand-in captain Dean Griffiths was proud of the contributions made by colts Rupert Paine, Dan Jelly and Sam Powell.
Meanwhile, the final total raised, after gift aid, for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation by the Lewis Moody charity match between the Bath & District Combination and hosts Bradford-on-Avon last month was £6,818.75. The amount smashed the Combination’s target of £5,000.
The 2026 Bath Combination 7s will be hosted on Avon on Saturday 1st August and, for the first time, will include a women’s tournament whose pool stages and semi-finals will be played at Bath Ladies’ Lambridge base.
Bath Ladies played at The Rec for the second time this season when they entertained North Bristol Ladies in Women’s Championship South 1 on Sunday 8th March.
But as in their match against Exeter University Women at the city-centre venue in November, the Blue, Black & White were beaten.
This time the score in a hard-fought encounter was 19-17 to the visitors from Almondsbury.
Forward of the match for the hosts was Kyara Martin. And their back of the match was Olivia Lewis.
Bath Ladies United romped to a 64-15 victory at Supermarine Ladies in Women’s NC 1 South West (East) on Sunday 8th March to stay top of the table.
But North Bristol 2nd XV are hot on their heels, just three points adrift, and the same afternoon they hammered travellers Hucclecote Ladies 81-20.
Bath will visit North Bristol on Sunday 26th April in what could be a championship decider.
It will be North’s final match of the campaign, but the Blue, Black & White will have one more game – at Ellingwood & Ringwood Ladies the following weekend.
United’s back of the match against Supermarine was Iola Carter – and the forward-of-the-match accolade was given jointly to Daisy Pearce-Lyons and Tyler Lewis.
Local results for Saturday 7th March:
Counties 1 Tribute Ale Southern South: Walcot 15 Salisbury 5.
Counties 2 Tribute Ale Somerset: Oldfield Old Boys 14 Avon 24.
Counties 2 Tribute Dorset & Wilts North: Melksham 2nd XV 14 Combe Down 109.
Counties 3 Tribute Ale Dorset & Wilts Central: Bath Saracens 7 North Dorset 2nd XV 67, Trowbridge 3rd XV 26 Combe Down 2nd XV 24.
Counties 3 Tribute Ale Somerset North: Old Sulians 35 Midsomer Norton 2nd XV 5.
Counties 4 Tribute Ale Somerset North: Walcot 2nd XV 19 Oldfield Old Boys 2nd XV 22.
Local results for Sunday 8th March:
Women’s Championship South 1: Bath 17 North Bristol 19.
Women’s NC 1 South West (East): Supermarine 15 Bath United 64.
Local fixtures for Saturday 14th March:
Counties 2 Tribute Ale Somerset: Clevedon v Avon, Keynsham 2nd XV v Oldfield Old Boys.
Counties 3 Tribute Ale Dorset & Wilts Central: Avonvale v Frome 2nd XV.
