Chew Valley Vets locked horns with Old Bristolians for the second time this
season and the fifth time in the last three seasons and finally came away
with their first win against their local rivals.

The two teams had drawn earlier in the season in November and were prepared
for another close encounter on this return fixture at Lobbingtons.

The heavy morning frost had been replaced by a sunny winter's day in time
for kick off and although the pitch was very boggy playing conditions were
otherwise perfect. The sun shone on the home side for the first fifteen
minutes as clean ball was secured by the forwards and Wring used his
options well to release the Chew backs. Voke offered an aggressive
directness at inside centre that allowed the forwards to secure comfortable
phased ball on several occasions and Gibbons attempted to join the line on
whenever possible from full back and it wasn't long before Wring spotted
and executed a cross kick to perfection for the flying wing Maggs to
collect and kick on for the outside centre Molinuex to cross the line
unopposed.

Soon after, Wring thought he had put Molinuex in for his second try as a
beautiful floated miss pass broke the Old B's defence and the outside
centre crossed the line for a second time, only to be called back for a
dubiously awarded forward pass. More chances came and went as the
impressive Crocker hunted for the ball and broke a couple of tackles before
being tackled on the line by his opposite number when he looked favourite
to score.

Old B's rode the early storm and came back into the game with reassured
patience. They made their way up the pitch with less ease then their
opponents however equally as effectively with tight forward play and
enterprising running from their free flowing backs. Their patience paid off
as they scored two quick tries to take the lead and gain control of the
match. Their first try came from several phases of forward play eventually
leading to a missed tackle from Chew and a score and conversion under the
posts. Their second try was very similar as Old B's No.8 found a hole in
the Chew defence and went over the line with ease. A relatively straight
forward conversion was missed resulting in the arrears for Chew being only
5 points at half time. Chew suffered a blow just before half time as their
dynamic open side, King, suffered a rib injury requiring a re-shuffle in
Chew's line up as Voke went into the back row and Mellersh was introduced
replacing Voke in the centres.

Chew addressed the areas that had cost them ascendency in the first half
and soon took control in the second half. They kept that control for the
rest of the game as most of the play stayed in the Old B's half of the
pitch. Chew hit the fringes with much more aggression in the second half
and got beyond the gain ball line regularly. Windows delivered an expert
performance at No.9 and with his forwards on top of their game he
distributed the ball sensibly to maximise his team's dominance. Wring took
the ball on more than he had in the first half and consequently started
releasing Molineux and Crocker more off second and third phase ball, rather
than first phase, as the gaps began to increase in size as the half wore
on. Both Chew tries however came from forward play as Wellman & Thomson at
second row set up a back row try before debutant Warren scored the decisive
points under the posts after a sustained period of forward pressure.
Mellersh converted both scores and Chew took a 19-12 lead which they
preserved until the final whistle.

Warren's try was reward for his front row partners of Mcdonnell & Bell who
did more damage than their opposite numbers in the loose and Taylor at
blind side kept his side going forward and made sure his and his side's
post match beer tasted that bit sweeter with the final kick of the day into
touch signalling the referee's final whistle.

Voke was the clear man of the match for his all action dual position
performance.

Both captains agreed on a repeat home and away fixture in the 2012/2013
season as the two sides looked forward to continuing their good natured
rivalry.

Will