Old Cents are not third in the table for nothing and they capitalised on Thornbury’s handling errors and defensive mistakes to rack up a significant if flattering scoreline.

Thornbury’s playing resources took another hit following the match with Keynsham and the coaches were again forced to make changes. With Alfie Richardson still injured and his replacement Sam Garbett also side-lined Mike Priday returned to the side in the unfamiliar position of fullback. Chris Perrett moved in from wing to replace Sam McLaren at centre with Jack Oakey starting on one wing and Mike Johnson extracted from the back row to play on the other. Up front Kieran Wilson was welcomed back for his first match since pre-season and he joined Henry Low and Luke Panting in the front row. In the back row Mike Beswick came in for three-quarter-bound MJ. Harrison Bellamy was on the bench where he was joined by Sam Poustie for his first appearance of the season. They were joined by Max Harper, well on his way back from injury, but would only be used in emergencies.

Old Centralians had earned some good results in recent months and had moved up to third in the table. The match between the clubs earlier in the season in Gloucester had ended in a 24-24 draw. Their side included four cousins from the Preece family, including the entire front row, and Jack Rowe at openside who had played a few games for Thornbury in 2014.

Although there had been no rain since last weekend the pitch was heavy. With much of the pitch in deep shadow Thornbury kicked off downhill into a chilly breeze. After a few minutes Dan Duncan-Webster went off for a head injury assessment and Sam Poustie came on considerably earlier than he had expected. He trotted off shortly afterwards when Dan came back on and a few minutes later Thorns opened the scoring. They had been on top from the kick-off but had made too many errors to threaten the Old Centralians line. Then with twelve minutes gone Thorns’ forwards attacked down the left. Stuart McWhinnie was twice involved as Thorns drove for the line then play was quickly moved along the backs and Mike Beswick squeezed over in the right corner. The conversion dropped short but it was a deserved lead.

The lead lasted only three minutes as Thorns’ exit from the restart was poor and a clearing kick went direct to touch. Old Cents attacked from the lineout and after the forwards had pounded the line the ball was moved wide where wing Seb Farrer scored. The conversion missed but the scores were tied at 5-5.

As the second quarter began Old Centralians began to move the ball about and with good support lines they gave the Thornbury defence a severe test. After the defence had creaked Farrer scored a second try from a quick penalty. Wayne Mulhern converted for a 12-5 lead.

Thornbury’s pack was playing well and drove from a lineout on the visitor’s ‘22’ before Dan Duncan-Webster cross-kicked for Mike Johnson but the cover came across and bundled Thorns’ wing to touch by the flag. But Thornbury were in the right place on the field and Stu McWhinnie burst from a driving lineout but a powerful double-tackle a metre short saw the ball dislodged. Old Cents had the scrum but Thorns drove them over their line. A minute later it was Luke Panting who drove for the line only to lose the ball in another heavy tackle.

This successful defence seemed to give Old Centralians confidence and inspiration and although Harrison Bellamy replaced Kieran Wilson Thorns seemed to have gone to sleep. In the space of five minutes centre Dan Tyler rounded off an eighty-metre move which featured several missed tackles, Thorns conceded a penalty try which saw Mike Johnson sin binned then wing Jevan Brown intercepted an unnecessarily long pass to amble in for their fifth try on the half. With a kick form skipper Harry Preece Old Centralians led 31-5 at half time.

During the interval Sam Poustie replaced Dan Duncan-Webster who was struggling from his injury but Thorns looked more together after the break, and scored first when prop Harrison Bellamy intercepted on halfway and showed the cover a clean pair of heels to sprint in for a memorable score. Sam Poustie converted shortly before Mike Johnson returned to the fray.

The third quarter of the game was tight, with Thornbury’s pack shading the battle of the eights, but the backs generally didn’t ‘click’ despite their organisation by Sam Poustie. Thorns had ambition but a forward pass here and a knock-on there handed the initiative to Old Cents. Thornbury’s defence was tighter than before the break.

Midway through the half the game was stopped while Jack Pickles dealt with an injury to his boot. The sole ripped off and he had to borrow boots from Dan Duncan-Webster to continue. At the next breakdown he kicked an excellent 50:22. Thorns attacked and Mike Johnson was put in but there had been a knock-on in the build-up and the try was disallowed.

Early in the final quarter Thornbury scored a try that was allowed. They attacked from a quickly-taken penalty and Jack Pickles spotted a gap around the breakdown on the Old Centralians ‘22’ and scored a fine individual try between the posts. Sam Poustie added the extras and with the deficit now reduced to 31-19 hope returned to the Thornbury side. A try would see Thorns in position for two bonus points.

As the minutes ticked by Thornbury’s attempts to score that all-important try became increasingly desperate, but rather than applying pressure to Old Cents they applied pressure to themselves. As the match reached eighty minutes Thorns made an error trying to run out of defence and hooker Jack Preece exploited a gap to score a converted try that put the result beyond doubt. Then as Thorns tried again to score Old Cents got their hands on the ball and the influential Farrer chipped over the advancing defence and won the race to the ball for the final score in last play.

Old Centralians are a good side and deserved their win, but maybe not by the margin the scoreboard suggested. Compared to the previous game Thornbury’s performance was better in some areas and worse in others. Looking to the positives the forwards went well but as hard as the backs tried they lacked the fluidity they needed. Mike Priday and Jack Pickles played well, particularly as they were both playing out of position, whilst in the pack Henry Low and Chris Moseley had eye-catching games with ball in hand whilst Stuart McWhinnie was again difficult to handle. From the bench Sam Poustie had a fine return to rugby whilst Harrison Bellamy had an outstanding game not only through his try but his work in the tight in the loose.

The match was refereed by teenager Cam Livingstone and he also had a fine afternoon with sympathetic control, good communication and excellent use of the advantage.

Thorns play their re-arranged game with Chippenham next Saturday, kick off 2:00.

Scorers:
Thornbury: tries – Mike Beswick, Harrison Bellamy and Jack Pickles; conversions – Sam Poustie (2)
Old Centralians: tries – Sol Farrer (3), Dan Tyler, Jevon Brown, Jack Preece, penalty try. Conversions: Wayne Mulhern, Harry Preece (2)

Teams:
Thornbury: Mike Priday; Mike Johnson, Mike Gaston, Chris Perrett, Jack Oakey; Dan Duncan-Webster, Jack Pickles; Kieran Wilson, Henry Low, Luke Panting (c), Tom Constable, Chris Moseley, Mike Beswick, Ben Wood, Stuart McWhinnie.
Replacements: Harrison Bellamy, Sam Poustie, Max Harper.

Old Centralians: Ross Stevens; Jevan Brown, Dan Tyler, Wayne Mulhern, Sol Farrer; Harry Preece (c), Luke Jones; Sam Preece, Jack Preece, Ben Preece, Luke Forsythe, Jordan Smith, Cam Simpson, Jack Rowe, Mike Mathers.
Replacements: Gavin Butler, Marcus Brown, Sam Pooley.

Referee: Cameron Livingstone (Bristol Referees Society)