Barns suffer the Blues in shock defeat

South West Premier

NEWBURY Blues provided the shock of the afternoon in the South West Premier by consigning league leaders Barnstaple to just their second defeat of the season, with a thrilling performance that adds drama to the campaign.

The Blues, who sat bottom with just one win to their name before the game, played without fear and were comfortable 26-17 winners to give their safety hopes a muchneeded boost.They remain one point behind Launceston at the foot, who were held to a draw in an entertaining 32-32 contest with Brixham.

Rikki Bentham, Torin Clarke and Ryan Westren scored the tries for the hosts while Dan Pearce was on form with his boot – but they could not fend off the spirited away side, who battled for a draw.

Barnstaple’s defeat opened the door for Weston-super-Mare to go top of the table, but they also saw their winning run come to an end at Okehampton on a crazy day of rugby. Okehampton ran out 23-20 winners in another nail-biting contest that again proves just how tight a league the South West Premier is this season.

Home side Okehampton set the tone after two minutes when kicker Richard Friend slotted a penalty from the 15-metre line.

The host’s backs were proving a handful for Weston and on 22 minutes the deadlock was broken with Sam Turner on the end of a scrappy move to make it 8-0.

Weston, once they had regained their composure, replied three minutes later, moving the ball through the phases from the restart resulting in a converted try.

The visitors had weathered the storm and on the stroke of half-time a score at the base of a scrum gave them a 17-11 lead.

Okehampton replied in the best fashion with the ball being played from one side to the other and Ryan Lee running into space.

The hosts sensed a scalp and their forward play resulted in a penalty try with just minutes remaining to seal a momentum-building win.

Defeats for the top two allowed Maidenhead to pull back into the title race with a 24-14 win at Bracknell.

Scott Prince and Dave Cole both scored a brace of tries as their side marched to a bonus-point victory to bring them within four points of the summit.

Meanwhile, Camborne and Ivybridge both missed the chance to close the gap at the top after playing out a 25-25 draw in an entertaining encounter.