Gordano RFC 50 Taunton 2s 22

The wind dropped and the sun showed its face to welcome home supporters who came out in good numbers again to watch their team stretch their lead at the top of Somerset Prem. With Winscombe failing to take a bonus point from their victory over Nailsea and Backwell Gordano moved 7 points clear and improved their points difference with an 8 try victory over a strong Taunton second team.

Taunton fumbled the kick off with the wind in their faces and Gordano quickly found themselves with an overlap on the left but miscommunication lead the ball to be moved right and the opportunity for an immediate lead had gone begging. It didn't take long however before space was again created, this time from a clever offload from hooker Matt Stevens which saw Tom Arnall score on the right. The wind made it difficult for Taunton to clear their lines, one attempt to do so resulted in a superb individual try for Joe Rowsell as he out jumped the opposition to gather a clearance kick before finding a hole in the defence and beating the last man for a 7 pointer under the posts. Taunton kept hold of the ball and a series of penalties at the breakdown gave them field position to mount an attack, moving the ball well to score a converted try and show Gordano that they were in a game. Despite not being at their best in the first quarter Gordano were creating opportunities and next over the line was Lee Worgan who gathered an offload and skated past the fullback. Probably the try of the day was scored by Jack Hendy - a scrum on the right 40m out was driven 15m down the pitch before being released left to the backline who hit Joe Harris up through the midfield, the ball was quickly recycled and moved left again to Chris Worgan who pulled the pass behind Tom Arnall to Hendy who had dummied the ball outside to power over. The centre, fresh from a trip to Dublin went over again before the turn around for a half time score of 31-12.

The team felt they had more to give in the second but did not start well, conceding an early try after 3 quickly taken penalties. The pack got the team back on the front foot with a pushover try scored by Mike Yandell. Pressure and fitness started to tell as the home side ran in another two tries late on, both scored by Jack Hendy to take him to four and win him the man of the match badge. Special mention must go to Joe Harris for a through the legs pass to set up the final try.

The sharks were not at their best but created opportunities throughout and were clinical when needed. They travel to Minehead next week for a tough game before a home cup match on the 24th against Whitehall.