Chew Valley 63 Old Sulians 8

The Chew Valley tight five of James Tanner, Dave Brunt, Jon Eves, Bruce Wellman and Olly King laid the foundation for this important win for Chew Valley in their fight for survival in Somerset Premier.

On a pitch made for running rugby thanks to the work of groundsman Chris Light, Chew Valley were dominant in the set scrums and disrupted ball from the lineout, which meant that Sulians' pacy backs had to survive on scraps of possession.

The visitors were much livelier in the first 10 minutes and went ahead with a penalty from outside-half CJ Hampton.

Chew responded immediately with a well-worked series of rucks and quick ball, which put winger Ben Keedwell clear to score in the corner. Outside-half Alex Cameron converted and followed up with a penalty.

Hampton then missed four kickable penalties as Chew were penned in their own half for 10 minutes before breaking out with a quick interchange of passes between backs and forwards.

Second row Olly King gave the scoring pass to scrum-half Sam Ryan and Cameron converted the try.

Sulians responded with a try of their own after Chew flanker Luke Sparkes-Brown was sin-binned following a series of penalties at the breakdown.

Hampton missed the conversion in front of the posts and, when flanker John Carnegie dropped the ball over the line in the act of scoring with the last play of the first half, Sulians were well in the contest.

The second half was a different story as Chew Valley upped the pace and the power of their front row caused the visitors' scrum to break up as number eight Ross Elliot, fresh from his cycle ride from Paris to London with Laurence Dallaglio, controlled the ball with his feet and looked certain to score the pushover try.

Instead, the referee awarded a penalty try which Cameron converted and soon afterwards he added a further penalty.

As the Chew forwards began to run riot, veteran second row Bruce Wellman showed that he has lost none of his silky skills with a pick up off his toes and a slip pass to Tom Waddington in support, followed by a delicate chip to the corner later in the same move.

From the resultant steal at the lineout by Olly King, Dave Brunt shot over under the posts for another easy conversion from Cameron.

James Maggs replaced Jack Evans on the left wing and it was the backs who shone as Cameron scored in the corner.

Maggs scored his first of a brace when full-back Dan Fox, who threatened all afternoon with his strong direct running, was held up short but his popped pass out of the tackle made life easy for the winger to score under the posts, with Cameron on target for the extras.

Sparkes-Brown made up for his earlier misdemeanour with a try from halfway, Maggs bagged a second and Keedwell also completed his brace out wide.

Pony and Trap Chew Magna man of the match was Olly King.