16 Feb 2008 - Nailsea & Backwell II's 5 - Chew Valley II's 21

So Another fantastic local derby which despite the scores was a very closely run match.

The Gladiators lost the toss and having started off very brightly kept Chew trapped in their own 22 for the first twenty minutes with Jason Ford leading from the front. Despite a number of kickable penalties Nailsea continued to batter away against Chew's very tight and aggressive defence. Finally after 30 minutes a Nailsea ruck 5 metres from the Chew line allowed returning Nailsea scrum Half Martin Day to nip in and score.

Despite constant Nailsea pressure Chew held them off to finnish the half just 5-0 down.  The second half started with Nailsea forced to take off the influential Pete Reaks. Despite the disruption, Nailsea's steady scrum kept Chew in their own half, but once again the lack of cutting edge was apparent and again despite the terriortial advantage Chew broke to score a very hotly contested try.

With Chew finally finding the confidence that has kept them second in the table the cutting edge was soon exposed. Nailsea were under the constant pressure starting to feel the strain particularly after they lost three more players ,and Chew opened up a comfortable gap. At the end Nailsea continued to work despite lacking possesion they kept their heads