RFU Intermediate Cup
Gloucestershire Final
Thornbury 7
Berry Hill 15
BERRY Hill moved into the last 16 of the National Intermediate Cup with an excellent controlled performance at the Portway Rugby Centre in Bristol on Tuesday night.
On a greasy, tacky pitch Hill made the perfect start when a driven line-out was superbly executed by the forwards and prop Clive Ryder went over for a try. Lee Osborne converted.
Osborne added a fine long range penalty to make it 10-0 by half-time.
Hill and Thornbury, who are both competing for top honours in Western Counties North, cancelled each other out in many facets of the game and much of the action took place between the two 22m areas.
Hill, however, laid claim to having most of the possession.
The Foresters got off to a poor start in the second-half.
Lee Osborne's restart didn't go 10 metres and the Thornbury forwards were quick to react, breaking away to almost score in the corner.
A sustained period of pressure on the Hill line followed, but the defence held firm.
Thornbury were penalised for holding on in the tackle and Hill cleared their lines, driving into the Thornbury 22 where they spent much of the remaining game.
A succession of 5m line-outs and scrums should have resulted in the game-breaking score, but excellent Thornbury defending and a lack of patience kept Hill out.
Finally, with eight minutes to go, Hill skipper Andy Wright squeezed through a gap at a maul and slipped the ball to the supporting Josh Cook, who scampered over for the try. Osborne missed the conversion, but Thornbury now needed three scores to win.
They managed to cross the Hill line with the final play of the match but it was too little, too late.
Hill now progress to the Gloucestershire/Somerset leg of the tournament, where they will play Oldfield Old Boys at home on February 12.