After the controversial nature of last week's County Cup match against Warminster, it was good to get back to a full and proper game of rugby played on the 1st XV pitch down at Salisbury Rugby Club.
Buoyed with confidence from the win against Warminster, Minety soon found themselves on the back foot against a powerful and pacey Salisbury outfit. Time and time again the home team put pressure on nthe Minety pack before throwing the ball out to the backs and moving the ball from side to side of the pitch. However, for 20 minutes the Minety defence held out and it looked as if the tenacious tackling and covering play would frustrate the home team. Alex Miriam, restored to the centre, led the early tackle count with some crunching tackles on the Salisbury centres while the powerhouse of Gainey, Palmer, Harford, Windle and Kinnett won vital ball in the loose.
But the pressure was mounting and a missed tackle far out on the left allowed Salisbury in for their first try in the 21st minute. An excellent conversion from the Salisbury full back took the home team 7 - 0 in the lead.
Minety hit back strongly. Led by capatina Ben Thomas, the visitors enjoyed a perid of dominant play in the Salisbury half. Good line out possession and some hard rucking pushed the home side back. In the 25th minute Minety lost fly half Elis Garland to an arm injury and had to make changes across the back line. Thomas picked up at the base of the scrum and launched a blisterign attack on the home line, rebuffed by a last ditch tackle just metres from the line. But the visitors could not maintain the pressure and a dropped ball in mid field and another missed tackle and Salisbury ran in their second try from deep within their own 22. Once again the try was converted and Salisbury left the field at half time 14 - 0.
The second half was only 2 minutes old when play was held up for a long time while Salisbury's second row was treated on the pitch for a very natsy shoulder injury.
The delay didn't help the visitors who found it difficult to match their early second half pressure and on 50 minutes Salisbury burst through the defence to score another try, which was successfully converted - 21 - 0.
Five minutes later another fine back move put Salisbury through for their fourth try, once again converted.
The final minutes of the match were played largely in the Salisbury 22 but despite enormous pressure, the Minety team could not break down a stubborn Salisbury defence.
28-0 sounds like a bit of a drubbing but it certainly wasn't. Four missed tackles cost Minety dearly and they were doubly punished by a powerfect display of conversion kicking by the Salisbury full back.
Special mention must be made of the superb display of catching and running by Minety full back Kieran Evett. Time after time he was called upon to deal with difficult ball but he missed nothing and was a constant thorn in the Salisbury defence.
With one more County Cup match to go, Minety can look back upon a hard campaign with some satisfaction. Against teams from much larger clubs and with significantly larger player pools, the inexperienced Minety Under 16s have emerged battered but not bowed.
Minety Squad
1 Reece Kinnett
2 Callum Harford
3 Greg Palmer
4 Josh Gainey
5 Tom Windle
6 Joe Kidner
7 Rob Hinwood
8 Josh Bull
9 Ben Thomas (C)
10 Elis Garland
11 Jordan Willcock
12 Alex Miriam
13 Joby Neal
14 Dave Cooke
15 Kieran Evett
Replacements
Oliver Thomas, Andy Wait, Jack Wallace and Jim New.
