Western Counties North

Keynsham 28

DRYBROOK came close to grabbing their first victory since October, but indiscipline ultimately proved their undoing.

Full-back Andy Milner kicked Drybrook into a 3-0 lead after a bright opening spell.

Keynsham hit back immediately with a penalty, then went into the lead on 21 minutes after Drybrook lost their first man to the sin-bin.

Second-row Liam Jackson was the guilty man who was yellow carded for offside.

Undaunted, Drybrook kept the pressure on the visitors, spurred on by some aggressive running from scrum-half Danny Griffiths.

On 32 minutes, the tense encounter boiled over with a mass brawl halting play for a couple of minutes.

Drybrook were awarded a penalty which they kicked to the corner. Jackson took a good catch before being driven over for a try by a fired-up pack.

Andy Milner brought the scores level with a tremendous conversion from the corner and, from the restart, Drybrook went on the attack again. Several minutes of pressure were rewarded when a neat back-row move involving Pete Meek and Dan Price created the space for winger Sam Peaper to race over in the corner.

Just before the break Milner had the chance to increase Drybrook's lead with another penalty, but unfortunately his effort drifted wide.

Leading 15-10, Drybrook lost hooker Ashley Howells to the bin after he was deemed to have prevented his opponent from getting to his feet after a tackle.

This gave Keynsham the momentum and two penalties put them in front again.

The visitors grabbed a second try when they again exploited a gap down the blind side of a driving maul.

Drybrook threw everything into attack and camped deep in Keynsham territory, but Lee Phelps was sent to the bin following a reckless challenge and Keynsham gratefully cleared.

Against 14 men the visitors were able to get on top. Despite some heroic defence, they scored a try on the overlap to guarantee victory.

Although beaten, Drybrook showed a lot of character in this game. Had they been able to control their discipline they could have won it.

Back-row man Danny Price impressed with some excellent tackling, while second-row Liam Jackson gave Drybrook a solid platform at the line-out. Centre Simon Rugman was a thorn in Keynsham's side all day, but scrum-half Danny Griffiths was named Penny Farthing Inn man of the match by the game's sponsors.

Drybrook: Andy Milner, Sam Peaper, Lee Ward (capt), Simon Rugman, Tony Paull, Chris Rawlings, Danny Griffiths, Dean Jelf, Ashley Howells, Steve Virgo, Ben Warren, Liam Jackson, Mitch Bourne, Dan Price, Peter Meek. Reps: Dan Large, Mitch Browning, Lee Phelps.