Wiveliscombe 29pts - Nailsea & Backwell 10pts
Nailsea & Backwell travelled down to Wiveliscombe on Saturday. With N&B in joint second place and Wiveliscombe unbeaten this season this was a top of the league clash.
The game started brightly enough with both sides nullifying the others attacks. Then on 15 minutes Wiveliscombe were awarded a kickable penalty which they converted. On 20 minutes a most unsavoury incident occurred when a Wivvey forward stamped on the head of an opponent. The nearest Nailsea forward reacted instinctively and a red card was awarded to each side.
As the half wore on there were a number of controversial officiating decisions which seemed to put the Nailsea boys on the back foot. However, Outside Half, Rob Baker levelled the score with a rare penalty awarded in N&B’s favour.
The second half began with the Nailsea boys unable to build momentum due to the stop / start nature of the game and the constant whistle. With refereeing decisions regularly against the visitors, the inevitable came when Wivvey, provided field position by another very tight refereeing decision, set up a maul to score. This was followed by two more quick tries.
Nailsea responded when Ben Perfect took off on an excellent arcing run to beat several defenders and score under the posts, Baker adding the extras. The game continued to experience many interruptions and ended with unopposed scrums due to yellow cards issued to Nailsea. Wivvey ran in one further try to end the scoring at 29-10.
A frustrating day for the Ravens, but next week N&B entertain Avon at the West End Ground (KO 3pm) for another top of the table encounter.
