Ross 2nds entertained Cheltenham Civil Service 2nds in a friendly fixture and were the worthy winners 43 – 10.

Ross were on fire in the first half, putting their game plan together of hitting it up tight, drawing in an opposing back or two and then spreading the ball out to the backs.

They reaped the rewards and cantered away to a healthy 26 point lead at half time. There were tries from newcomer centre, Mark Lewis, scoring on his debut, winger, Jake Bourne, grabbing one and a brace from scrum half, Rhys Gunter.

The 2nd half commenced very much the same as the first, with Ross raining in tries from number 8, Dan Gould, who was on hand to collect a pop pass from fly half, Tom Muldowney, after a break down the blind side and a superb solo effort from 2nd row, Connor Challenger.

Guy Pearson ran in Ross’ last try with centre, Joe Muldowney, scoring the extras, and Ross were home and dry.

Ross switched off for the last 10 minutes, with complacency setting in meaning Civil Service were able to score 2 unconverted late tries to just dampen Ross’ victory.

There were candidates all over the field for a man of the match. Nominations were Jake Christopher, Mark Lewis, and Connor Challenger. It finally went to scrum half, Rhys Gunter, who only lasted the first half but still asserted himself.See this week’s paper for more stories like this, available in shops and as a Digital Edition now.