Minety seconds put on their best performance of the season so far to inflict a heavy defeat on their visiting counterparts from Cooper Avon Tyres.

The visitors arrived with only 13 men but were bolstered on the field by two Minety volunteers, Chris Young and Kevin Holdway. Thus strengthened, the Melksham side started brightly enough and did well at the lineout throughout the game, but in all other areas of play, Minety’s sound scrummaging and excellent teamwork gave them the edge. The experienced halfback pairing of Andy Brown and James Tweedale expertly dictated play for the home side while number 8 Ian Illingworth and fullback Andrew Cooke completed the team’s solid backbone.

Winger Jason Cole ran in the first try of the afternoon while the second came from a flowing passage of play up the right-hand side of the field. Last-ditch tackling by the visitors seemed momentarily to have snuffed out the move a couple of metres from the try but Minety recycled possession and scrumhalf Brown was able to snatch up the ball and dive over for the score.

Brown repeated the performance five minutes later after a break by Andrew Cooke had taken the ball almost to the try line. Tackled at the last, he popped the ball to Brown who duly delivered the score.

Centre Phil Cooke successfully kicked the first of his six conversions and then scored a try himself to make it 24-nil at the break.

Minety started the second half with an impressive passage of play in which they repeatedly squeezed Cooper Avon Tyres at the scrums and then ran back their scrambled attempts at clearance kicks. The visitors were forced further and further back into their half before flanker James Stuart finished things off by bundling through for a try in the bottom corner of the field.

Minety’s excellent support play ensured that their runners were never isolated. When Tweedale was caught five metres out from the line, his teammates were on hand to drive him over for the try.

Cooper Avon Tyres stuck manfully to their task but when the Minety pack shunted them back on their ball at the scrum, they were unable to control the heel. Brown pounced on the ball as it squirted out and launched a blindside attack that ended with prop Matt Oliver carrying the ball over for a try as part of a ruthlessly driven maul.

Stuart scored his second try by burrowing through an attempted tackle to cross the line after Minety secured ball from a lineout 15 metres out. Illingworth then followed suit by running in a try from a quickly taken penalty on the 22.

Andrew Cooke charged in for a try from 40 metres out before lock Sean Richards delivered the coup de grace. Receiving ball from a tap penalty 10 metres out, he dropped his shoulders and bulldozed way through for Minety’s eleventh and final try of the afternoon.

 This Saturday, Minety seconds return to league action with a fixture away against Sutton Benger seconds.