RUGBY: Bad day at the office for Newbold as Whitchurch win 29-10

Tom Dixon tackling Whitchurch with Wes Hallam close by

PICTURES BY STEVE SMITH

Midlands 1 West

Newbold on Avon 10 Whitchurch 29

Whitchurch tackle Danny Treharne in Saturday's game at Parkfield Road

Newbold welcomed back into the fold Eddie Allen and a fit again Josh Cooke but it turned out to be a bad day at the office, writes Phil Fereday.

Whitchurch with the wind at their backs soon set out their intentions. But after ten minutes Newbold turned defence into attack and laid siege on the Whitchurch line.

The Bold came close with two pushover scrum attempts but had to settle for a Dan O’Brien penalty, 3-0.

The visitors scored a try in the corner for 3-5 after 30 minutes and just when it seemed Newbold had held out to be able to regroup at half time, Whitchurch slipped in for a converted try. Newbold started the second half with the elements in their favour and the expectations of the home crowd.

But on the hour a Whitchurch try made it 3-19. It seemed the harder Newbold tried nothing seemed to work to and after 75 minutes, against the run of play, Whitchurch scored again.

Finally some great handling from Josh Cooke and James McGill saw Oisin McKenna dive in at the corner, converted by O’Brien.

Any chance of a losing bonus point was then snatched away with a try from the last play of the game.

There had been some fine individual performances from the Bold, Tom Dixon being the notable stand out both in the line out and tackle count, but the team effort for some reason was disjointed.