Old Patesians – 35
Barnstaple– 7
Referee- Mr Richard Bennett
Old Patesians conjured up a magical bonus point win against Barnstaple in National League 3 South West with their best performance by far in the current campaign.
Their recent poor form was soon forgotten as they took on the Everest Road slope and tore into their visitors with so much enthusiasm and energy that it was breathtaking to watch.
Darren Moore had been restored to the scrum half berth for the first time this season and his vision, fast hands and the vociferous marshalling of his forwards brought a freshness to a team which seemed to have been missing in their previous adventures.
Fly half Matt Dean had more time to execute the game plan and both wingers, Danny Davis and James Aherne, had the feel of the ball in the opening exchanges.
Pats scrum was rock solid throughout with possession guaranteed on their own feed and with skipper James King and his front row mates Connor Thompson and Rob White regularly disturbing the rhythm of the Barnstaple scrum when it was their turn to put it in.
As usual second row forwards Nathan Riley and Rob Fidler bossed the lineout and the Barnstaple pack leader Tom Skelding was soon obliged to call for a four man lineout in an attempt to garnish some reasonable possession on their own throw.
Moore, cocky and arrogant, ankle tapped the Barnstaple Number Eight when he tried to collect from the base of a ruptured scrum and when his scrambled pass was fumbled Aherne swept up the ball and burst free for a try wide out on the right.
It was all Pats now with territorial domination and a feast of possession with the back row trio of Lotti Molitika, Ben Walsh and James Pettigrew creating mayhem with their pick and drives at the breakdown and from ruck and maul.
Pettigrew, now fully recovered from his many niggles and injuries, was really up for the battle and with a shrug of his muscular shoulders bashed through four tackles and released centre Stu Taylor for a try in the top left hand corner. Centre James Butler hoofed over the conversion from the touchline.
Barnstaple tried to counter with some comprehensive forward drives but the Pats defence had no real difficulty in containing these thrusts. To a man they withstood all the pressure exerted by their guests, who at kick-off were two places above them in the league, but were seriously failing to come to grips with the Pats effervescent ebullience and their sheer will to win.
Butler added a penalty goal and at the interval Pats led by 15 points to nil.
After the break Pats swarmed down the hill with Taylor and Dean always keeping their forwards on the front foot with booming touch finds.
Pats full back George Hughes, an enigmatic free running spirit from deep, was as brilliant as ever but on occasions he does incline to ignore the support and tries were missed.
Nevertheless Pats scored again when Walsh took lineout ball at the tail and Moore flicked an exquisite reverse pass to King on the charge for a try close to the posts, converted by Butler.
Barnstaple scrum half Nelly Webber, who played for the Pats in his student days, drop kicked a hanging restart and when Pats were unable to collect, replacement centre Ryan Carter took the ball at full pelt and was over the line in a flash. Fly half Neil Giddy converted and Barnstaple were on the score sheet at long last and they enjoyed a brief purple patch.
They raided the Pats goal line with several phases of pick and drives and, although Molitika was yellow carded for not rolling away, Pats eventually forced a turnover and the ever dependable Taylor cleared the danger zone with another searching touch find. Butler continued his good form with the boot with another penalty goal and then Hughes skewered through the midfield and bounced a would-be tackling prop onto his backside before scoring close to the uprights.
Butler duly converted the bonus point try and then closed out the game with another penalty goal to wrap up a thoroughly deserved win.
Man of the Match: James Pettigrew .
By Bob Ellis
