Glos Division 1

Ross on wye 5  Ashley Down 0

  Ross took another step to league survival last Saturday with a hard fought 5-0 win against third placed Ashley Down Old Boys,Ross looked the quicker in thought and deed in the first quarter,dominating both possession and territory,with Mike Davies and Adam Clements punching holes in the visitors defence scrum half Craig Powell was able to use some quality front foot ball,allowing the midfield backs Chay Brine ,Gareth Holdsworth and Casey Morgan to search out that first try,winger Tom Harris went close after fullback Huw Bellamy put him clear,and Craig Smith was put away for a certain try by Gareth Holdsworth before the referee brought them back for a forward pass,but Ross could not find that killer pass and Ashley Down held out to half time with the scores still level at 0-0.

  Ross went back to basics after the break relying on some surging runs from their forwards,every forward played their part punching holes in the visitors defence ,this tactic finally paid dividends as Ross took  a well deserved lead early into the second half,from a quality take at the lineout by Jake Christopher the Ross pack set up a driving maul,this was eventually halted by the visitors but not before Ross were into the Ashley Down twenty two,some strong ball carrying by Dave Mince and Matt Redman took then close and from thwe ensuing ruck prop Luke Ward dived over to score wide out on the left,the conversion was missed and Ross were 5-0 ahead.The score seemed to ignite the visitors who had their best spell of the game for the next 20 minutes,as Ross infringed Ashley Down looked to bring their driving lineout game to the fore,however the Ross pack defended manfully and Jake Christopher did some great work disrupting the visitors lineout,these combined enabled Ross to weather the storm ,and for the last 10 minutes of the game Ross controlled territory and possession and with the light fading the referee blew to see Ross home 5-0.

The GMP Webdesign Ross man of the match was Jake Christopher for his great work in disrupting the Ashley Down lineout