Gordano went searching for their second win of the season against a Matson side who had won both of their opening games. Knowing it would be a tough physical game, Gordano selected their heaviest pack of the season so far with Dan Shortland making his home league debut and Royce Chiddle returning from honeymoon to bolster a pack who had struggled against Winscombe.

After winning the toss and electing to play with the wind Gordano got off to the perfect start after a long punt from Joe Rowsell, Sam Hodge and Elliot Hanscombe worked in tandem to win the ball back from the nervous Matson winger, Hanscombe then make a brief break before offloading to Rowsell to brush off the final defenders before putting the ball down, Sam Hodge starting his final game before his hip operation slotting the conversion.

A fumble from Tom Arnall at the restart gifted Matson a midfield scrummage, luckily Gordano escaped without harm and worked their way upfield. Gordano then won a penalty after a Matson hand entered the ruck illegally, gifting Hodge the 3 points from the tee. Gordano 10-0 Matson.

Matson were soon in the Gordano 22 after a series of rumbles from their forwards. After executing a set piece lineout they shifted the ball into midfield where Gordano sensed a counter ruck and duly obliged. Unfortunately a pair of hands on the ball let Matson get onto the board with 3 points.

Gordano restarted quickly, using big runners Chiddle, Statton and Arnall to great effect through the middle. A quick pass from the base from Scott Magrath found Clevedon hooker Matthew Honour who found a lovely offload to hodge on the 22 for him to go over the line. Hodge slotted the conversion. Gordano 17-3 Matson.

Just before half time Matson’s number 8 found a great line to beat the defence and take the score to 17-8, before the teams trader further penalties to make the score 20-11 at halftime.

Knowing the next score after half time was vital; Gordano let Matson kick their way into their 22, and after a succession of driving mauls the defence succumbed to the score. A good kick made the score 20-18 in Gordano’s favour.

They were unlucky to not force another try after a succession of drives, but absolute stupidity from their captain resulted in their penalty being reversed and spending 10 minutes in the bin for overzealous use of the boot at the ruck. From this penalty Gordano gained good field position and got themselves in range for another 3 points from the tee for Hodge.

14 man Matson hit back straight away with a try under the sticks, setting up a close finish taking them into the lead by the slenderest of margins.

Gordano’s forwards then took over, forcing Matson onto the back foot and making them infringe time and time again, reduced to 14 men again Gordano used their weight advantage well at the scrummage led by Kaine Southey to earn a well deserved penalty try.

Burge then emptied his bench of Peterson, Brown and Hodder to give some tired legs a rest and they duly delivered Gordano’s 4th try- off the top of the lineout, setup in midfield, passed through several pairs of hands to find Noah Holmes-Mcadam who fed Sam Hodge to cap his fine performance and last for a while. Hodge maintaining his perfect record from the tee with the conversion from out wide.

Full time Gordano 37-25 Matson.

A fine win to match the 2nd teams victory at Weston Super Mare, and one that was talked about late into the night as the club celebrated its 50th year.

Coach Dave Burge had a hard time awarding a man of the match performance, taking into consideration quality performances from Arnall, Southey and Rowsell, but beating them for Marks Barbers man of the match with 2 tries and 5 kicks from the tee was Sam Hodge, a haircut that was much in need.

Gordano on the road next week against Midsomer Norton, 3pm kickoff.