23 Feb 2008 - Old Sullians II's nil - Nailsea & Backwell II's 19

Finally after controlling much of their last couple of games and losing the Gladiators finally showed 80 minutes of rugby.

Nailsea won the toss and chose to play with the wind on their backs. They kept Sullians pinned inside their half ,with Ben Jackson making some very impressive and surging runs down his wing. From one of these breaks he popped the ball up for James Staley to pop up and score.

 

Despite once-again dominating the scrums, rucks and mauls,  poor handling and some fantastic cover tackling always managed to keep Nailsea at bay.  Nailsea continued to try to force the play but once again lacked the killer blow.

 

At the end of the first half Nailsea, were only five points to the good but as soon as the game kicked off Nailsea instantly drove their way back into Sullians half and with their scrummage so dominant, Mark Hooper crashed over from the base for a converted try.

 

The Nailsea back row were everywhere . Sullians relied heavily on kicking their way out of trouble but with Nailsea backs speed and Darren Shinnet's impressive work-rate , the home side never looked likely to score. After another impressive break, Mark Hopper crashed over for his second and Liam Harris converted.

 

Nailsea made a number of changes and they continued to create gaps in Sulians defence but were unable add to the score. Special mention to Pete Hamlin's fantastic running and to full back Adam Knight who always chose the right options for the conditions.