Ross 1sts maintained their winning start to the season, picking up another bonus point win. The try count was six to one in Ross’ favour, however the hosts did not make it easy for Ross, and it wasn’t until the last quarter that Ross pulled away to secure a comfortable victory. The final score was Tewkesbury five, Ross-on-Wye 36.

Ross got on the scoreboard first, with Jamie Hayward scoring wide out on the right, after some quick hands gave him a sniff of the try line which he duly accepted. Aaron could not convert the touchline conversion but Ross were 5-0 ahead. They continued to look the most likely to score next, but some poor execution deep in the Tewkesbury half let the hosts off the hook and they made Ross pay.

A wide pass on the halfway put their fullback into space. He was quickly into his running pace and evaded two tackles with enough pace to score in the corner. They could not convert but they were on level terms at 5-5.

Ross hit back straight away with some good old fashioned forward grunt. Tewkesbury had a scrum on their five yard line but Ross pushed them off the ball and then Ross walked the ball across the line for number 8 to score. Tewkesbury missed a penalty late on in the half to bring the score back to 10-8, and Ross made them pay, as on the stroke of half time, Chris Price danced through some weak tackling to score under the posts. Aaron added the two, and at the break Ross were 17-5 ahead.

Tewkesbury, buoyed by their home support, hit back hard in the second half and, if it was not for a well disciplined Ross defence, the home side could easily have added a couple of tries of their own. But, they could not close the gap and three unanswered tries in the last quarter by Ben Element, Gavin Oates and Marcus Barnard not only gave Ross a comfortable victory, but also a try bonus point to ensure they stayed top of the table with maximum points after six games.

Ross have a week off next Saturday but on November 25th they are at home to second in the table Smiths Cheltenham, a 2.30pm KO.

Come down and support your local team.