Western Counties North
Berry Hill 34
Matson 31
BERRY Hill and Matson served up a 10 try thriller at Lakers Road.
Forced into changes because of Chris Scott's wedding, Berry Hill started with a bang.
They took a scrum against the head and Dave Arnott and Tom Legge linked up to put Kurt Brown over.
Matson were not overawed and took the lead with two tries of their own.
Hill struck back to 12-12 when Lee Osborne showed good footballing skills to dribble a ball that squirted out of a 5m scrum over the line and touch down. He also converted.
Matson scored another well worked try, but a sustained spell of Hill pressure resulted in an unconverted score for Shaun McRoberts.
Hill pounced again early in the second-half.
Dave Arnott spotted a gap in the Matson defence and his well judged kick was recovered by Dan Field, who gave an inside scoring pass to Tony Bean. Osborne converted, then extended the lead to 10 points with a penalty.
The visitors refused to lie down and retook the lead with a couple of smart tries.
Hill were up against it, but McRoberts claimed his second try of the game with a trademark pushover effort from a 5m scrum. Osborne landed a fine conversion from wide out.
Matson had one last chance to snatch a draw, but they missed the all-important penalty. Hill closed the game out for a bonus point win.
Home skipper Andy Wright (pictured) was presented with the Robert James Memorial Trophy, which is up for grabs whenever these two sides meet. It was fitting that they clashed on Saturday – 20 years on from the death of a fine and fondly remembered Berry Hill player.
This Saturday Hill take on Stroud at home in the regional semi-finals of the National Intermediate Cup (KO to be confirmed, so please check with the club).