Somerset Vase - Retained!

Chew Valley 31 Bristol Harlequins 24
Chew Valley retained the Somerset Vase at Weston S Mare on Friday night against fellow Western Counties North opponents Bristol Harlequins.
This was a close fought encounter from start to finish to provide top entertainment for a sizeable crowd.
Having lost twice to Chew Valley in the league, Quins would have been well aware of the attacking threat posed by full back Tom Bryan but they could not defend against his pace as, with five minutes gone, he set off from his own 22 following a scrum to leave defenders grasping thin air for an early try.
Quins showed they had plenty to offer when centre Lee Pearn caused the defence to scramble and with his fullback Scott Manning providing support Chew Valley, were penned in their own 22. A knock on at the base of a scrum gave a Quins put in and No 8 Dan Pearce brushed off some poor tackling to bring his side level after 20 minutes with a try that scrum half Ross Hickory converted to nudge his side in front.
Although Chew Valley were under some pressure at scrum time their backs looked more dangerous with ball in hand, however Quins were able to slow down the ball in contact due to the interpretation of laws at the breakdown by the Cornish team of three officials. When Chew Valley took the ball up close to the breakdown they forced mistakes from Quins.
Mitch Quoi was held up over the line and when a penalty was kicked to the corner, second row Darren Jefferies
scored a try from a well rehearsed lineout move for Bryan to convert and put Chew Valley back in front.
When Bryan slipped on his 10 metre Iine when running the ball back he was penalised for holding on. Hickory put the ball into the corner. Although the resulting lineout was defended and the ball held up over the line, the resulting scrum five went with the put in and Manning scored a try converted by Hickory.
The Quins lead was short lived as Chew Valley outside half Guy Winter bamboozled the home defence to score a try to put his side in front just before the break after his pack went close with a series of mauls.
With Chew Valley upping the tempo early in the second half and moving the ball quickly from first phase to negate Quins spoiling tactics, the critical score came with a rehearsed 8 to 9 move off the back of a scrum. With the backs running all sorts of lines, Jack Evans came in off his wing to scorch through a gap between the centres for a try converted by Bryan to put his side 24-14 ahead
Two scores behind Quins had to try and force the game and they were given hope when Manning crossed for his second try after a poor clearance kick from the restart, Hickory missed the conversion.

Evans was denied a second try when he was tackled high with the line at his mercy as the Chew backs put width on the ball quickly. A penalty was awarded although there was no card and a penalty try might have been awarded.
With the ball put into the corner loosehead prop James Tanner was at the back of the resulting driving maul to score a rare but popular try, converted by Bryan.
With Ross Hickory increasingly refereeing the game from scrum half for Quins, Chew Valley conceded a series of penalties and with good field position their pack was able to drive loosehead Jason Court over for a try although Hickory was off target with the extras.
With one converted score to take the game to extra time, Quins benefited from a yellow card to hooker Trystan Davis as he was adjudged to have joined a maul without using his arms. With the game running at least 8 minutes longer than the crowd expected, heroic defence forced three crucial turnovers as Quins had to run everything. Replacement Chew Valley centre Charles Shallcross was shown a straight red with what proved to be two minutes to go as he reacted to being punched off the ball by one of the opposition backs with a punch of his own. Hickory ran the ball but after two mauls and little ground made against thirteen men, Chew Valley prop Jonny Eves emerged with the ball and kicked it out of the ground as the last play was called.
Thus was the most successful season in the playing history of Chew Valley concluded.
Who would have predicted a third place finish for a side newly promoted into Western Counties with doubles against local rivals Midsomer Norton, Keynsham and of course Quins? plus promotion for the Second XV Captained by Luke Gibbs in their Champagne campaign which saw them only lose one game all season away at Winscombe.
The season concludes with the Club AGM and awards evening on 9th May.