Close at muddy Minety but 2nd's come away with losing bonus point

Mintey 1stXV 13 - Chippenham II's 8 - Match report courtesy of guest reporter Ali Hunt - Many thanks!

On a cold muddy Mintey pitch, both teams contested hard at the breakdown. Chippenham were dominant in the scrum but Mintey’s knowledge of the Pitch conditions kept Chippenham at bay. The 1st score came from a drive from the Mintey forwards in mid field, with a break from the 9, out to the wing for a converted try in the 20th minute. Chippenham responded in the 33rd minute with a 5 meters scrum pushing Mintey over the goal line but we forgot to touch the ball down. After repeated pressure Chippenham scored an unconverted try from another scrum, 7 meters out, pushing Mintey over the goal line, this time remembering to touch the ball down by Number 8 and club legend Scott Sherratt.

Half time 7-5

The 2nd half Mintey managed the conditions well and kept Chippenham pinned in the boggy bottom corner of the pitch, forcing mistakes from the Chippenham side and converting 2 penalty kicks. Into the final 10 minutes of the game, Chippenham continued to be dominant in the scrum and were camped on the Mintey 5 metre line. Despite Mintey conceding penalty after penalty at the scrum a try failed to materialise, with the black and whites eventually converting a drop goal in the 80th minute by Fly-half Ritchie Stone. This brought the score within 7 and secured the losing bonus point for the team.